The House of Elendil
by EricDal
Summary: Across the Sunset Sea, they come. Nine ships and three lords and one white tree. Elendil the Tall and his people have come out of the fall of Numenor to the shores of Westeros, and now they join the Game of Thrones. They must win or die. Rated M for violence, mature language and content.
1. Chapter I

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings and the Middle-earth mythos is the sole property of the Tolkien Estate. Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series that Game of Thrones is based upon, are the properties of HBO and George R. R. Martin. I derive no profit from the writing of this work, it is a fan project intended just for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. Blah

**_Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien._**

**_Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta!_**

**Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come**

**In this place I will abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world**

**-Elendil, Lord of the Numenorean Realm-in-Exile in Westeros, 30 A.L.**

**Chapter I**

**King's Landing**

The hall of the Red Keep of King's Landing was filled with the heavy scent of burning incense as the Silent Sisters prepared the body of Jon Arryn for his state burial. Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale and Warden of the East, the man who had raised King Robert Baratheon from childhood, the man who had started Robert's Rebellion and fought with courage and skill. The King's closest friend and chief advisor. All that, all laid low by a fever.

'The world is cruel sometimes', thought King Robert, looking over the burial preparations from a balcony above the hall. He was not a good King, he knew that himself. He needed a good Hand to keep the Kingdom running, for Robert knew he was a warrior, not a statesman. Robert took a long drink from his almost ever-present goblet of wine.

"A great tragedy, Your Grace. I understand that Lord Arryn was close to you" said a smooth, diplomatic voice from behind Robert. The King glanced over his shoulder to see Lord Varys, his Master of Whisperers, approaching.

"How is it that you do that?" the King asked, and took another sip of wine.

"Do what, Your Grace?" replied Varys.

"Walk around without making a single noise at all" said Robert.

"It is a talent I have honed, Your Grace, and a rather useful one considering my... position on your Council" Varys said.

"Aye, I suppose it would be that." Robert paused as he stared down hard at the body of Jon Arryn.

"I couldn't spare him, Varys, anymore than I could spare a million gold dragons or ten thousand knights or my own left nut. I will need a new Hand now, and who can I trust?" he said at last. The King rubbed his brow, closing his eyes hard. Maybe it was just the headache that the smell of burning incense gave him, but he was beginning to wish that he had never taken the bloody Throne in the first place.

"I believe Your Grace already knows the answer to that question" Varys replied in his smooth, soft voice.

"You would be right. Lord Eddard Stark. Ned, my old friend. A good man, an honourable man, if a little severe. He was a good comrade" the King said, smiling a little at the memory of his old friend from the North.

"Yes, no man could doubt Lord Stark's courage or loyalty but, if I might speak plainly Your Grace, I wonder: Would he be a good Hand?" said Varys

"Oh? And who can I trust that would be a better one?" Again, there was a long pause between the two. Robert glanced up from Jon Arryn's body towards Lord Varys. It looked as if the Master of Whisperers was very carefully considering his next words. All was silence, except for a quiet conversation going on across the hall. Robert looked and saw that it was his Queen talking to her twin brother. 'Those two always seem to be around each other, isn't Jaime Lannister supposed to be the Kingsguard, not the Queen's?' Robert mused to himself.

"Your Grace, what do you know of the Dunedain?" Varys said at last. Robert gave a start at Varys' words, almost spitting up his mouthful of wine.

"The Dunedain! The Numenoreans! Those self-righteous High Men?" Robert said, scorn in his tone.

"Yes, Your Grace, the Numenoreans. What do you know of them?" replied Varys.

"Only what everybody knows: They're all wise and strong and honourable, taller than anybody, can build anything, outfight anyone, see into the minds of lesser men. Masters of horses, unrivaled archers, and great sailors too, and apparently they live for-bloody-ever. Do you know that the Lord Elendil that landed here during the rule of Aegon the Conqueror is still alive and still ruling his people? There's something unnatural about that!" Robert spat, beginning to rave, before calming himself with another sip of wine. His sentiments were not rare in the Seven Kingdoms, many felt inferior to the Dunedain, many felt threatened. Maybe the whole Kingdom did.

"Some would say so, yes. Your Grace, have you ever visited Annúminas?" Varys asked.

"I've heard of it. 'The White City of Elendil', 'The Jewel of the North', blah blah blah. Full of naught but Numenoreans, jabbering on in that 'Queenya' of theirs, basking in how great they all are. I hear they don't even have brothels in Annúminas, what sort of city doesn't have brothels!" snapped the King.

"Your Grace, if I may be so bold to ask: What do you think of the Numenoreans? Really?" asked the Master of Whisperers.

"I think they're a bunch of self-righteous twats who think they're better than us, just because they're all seven feet tall and nearly immortal. They don't worship our Gods, and they don't speak our language unless they're speaking to us. No, they've got their own flowery little language. And that accent of theirs, ugh, always makes it sound like they're talking down to us," said King Robert bitterly. Varys nodded in understanding.

"Wholly understandable objections, Your Grace, but are they not the best of allies? Is there not a reason Elendil is called 'Kingmaker'?"

"Oh aye, they're fierce as direwolves in battle, on land or on the sea. Let me tell you something, Varys: These Numenoreans like to act like they're the noblest men in all the world, but if you wrong them, they cast all that nobility aside and they come after you like an angry bear. Just look at what they did to the Greyjoys" King Robert said with a rueful shake of his head.

"Yes, a very unfortunate business that was, Your Grace, though it must be said that Elendil served your purposes in that war" Varys replied

"Maybe, I still think the White Fleet only sailed because Elendil had been wronged, not because the Greyjoys were rebels. And that wasn't war, that was an extermination" said Robert.

"Perhaps. Your Grace, if I may be so bold, I would suggest that you visit Annuminas in the wake of Lord Arryn's tragic passing"

"Visit the White City? For what, Varys? To make Elendil Kingmaker my Hand? I will not." Robert said, with a tone of finality. He drained his goblet, and then thrust it towards his page Lancel Lannister, who stood to the side of King Robert and Lord Varys. Immediately, the nervous golden-haired young Lannister quickly refilled the goblet with dark red wine for his King.

"Elendil the Tall, Elendil the Longlived, Elendil the Faithful, Elendil Kingmaker. Elendil, Elendil, Elendil! Ever since I was a boy I've heard that name, heard the stories told about him. We all did, stories about their wisdom and great feats of arms. By the Gods I am sick to death of hearing about fucking Elendil and his fucking Numenoreans!" King Robert swore, and then took another deep drink of wine.

"Your Grace, perhaps there is one Numenorean that would be acceptable to you" Lord Varys said silkily.

"Eh? And who would that be, my Master of Whisperers?"

"Isildur Elendilion"

Shafts of golden light streamed through the stained glass windows of the Red Keep, while King Robert regarded the harsh grey Iron Throne that had become the scourge of his life since he had been crowned King. 'Isildur as Hand of the King? Now there is an idea,' Robert thought. He remembered Isildur at the Battle of the Trident, cutting through the Dornish ranks like a scythe through a field of wheat. There was some strange power in Isildur, for no matter how badly a battle went, wherever the tall Numenorean lord stood, no foe could withstand him, and the hearts of his allies were gladdened wherever he went, and his enemies quailed and fled before him. And of all the lords that came to join Robert's Rebellion, Isildur was one of the most wise and clever of all of them. He could've been King if he had wanted to be.

"Of all the Numenoreans, he's the only one who seems a normal man like the rest of us. He's the only one I like. And he fought for me, alone of all his kin. Aye, Lord Varys, he could be a great Hand. But, still, I want my friend Ned by my side. We were meant to rule together, Ned and I" said the King.

"Perhaps there is a way, Your Grace, to have both Lord Isildur and Lord Stark by your side. The other night, Your Grace, you mentioned something" Varys began, but was cut off.

"The other night I was drunk, Lord Varys" King Robert said with a chuckle.

"Yes, quite, Your Grace, but your words were still wise. You said that the Kingdoms' great weakness was that every great house has its own army, that there is no Royal Army for you to call upon, only your own Baratheon bannermen. If I may be so bold as to propose something, Your Grace: You could create a Royal Army, and bring Lord Stark here to train it and command it, as the Marshal of your Army." Lord Varys continued. Suddenly, the idea that had been hatched in drunken revelry seemed plausible, even desirable. Despite himself, King Robert smiled and clapped Varys on the back.

"I can see why the Mad King kept you around, Varys" King Robert laughed. "Aye, a noble proposal. And I will see it done! Isildur shall be my Hand and Eddard my Marshal. Send ravens with messages to Winterfell and Annúminas. I shall ride north!" the King finished, and then he drained his goblet once more and tossed it to Lancel, who clumsily caught it and almost dropped it.

The fat King strode off down the corridors, and Varys watched him go with a calm, complacent look on his face. The eunuch looked down again to the hall, where the Silent Sisters have finished the last rites, and an honour guard of Goldcloaks was bearing Jon Arryn to the carriage that would take him on his final journey, back to the Vale that was his home, to be buried in the land that give him birth. Varys spotted the Queen and the Kingslayer, still talking in low tones on the opposite side of the hall. 'There is something about those two Lannisters', Varys thought, 'I shall have to have my little birds take a little peek at them'

"Ah, all for the Realm" Varys sighed softly to himself, and then turned and walked away noiselessly.

The lands of the North were bleak and grey, but they had a certain rugged beauty to them. Or so thought Tyrion Lannister as he rode along the Kingsroad, part of the vast entourage of the King. The land was rough and hardy, much like its native people, and trees were few and far between as the long line of mounted men wound its way down the Road. The whole land seemed stony and hard and cold, as icy winds blew down from the blue peaks of the mountains to the north of the Road. Yet, despite all that, Tyrion found himself compelled by the landscape. All of the southern lands of Westeros had been conquered and cultivated by men, and were dotted with farms and towns and bridges and the myriad other little additions of civilization, so that true wilderness was a rarity south of the Neck. However, here in the North, Tyrion truly felt that he was in a wild and untamed land.

Despite that, however, the Kingsroad here was not the mere dirt track that it was in most parts of the North, for the Road had been remade with the art of the Numenoreans, and it was broad, paved with rectangular slabs of the North's native stone, and marked with milestones along the side. There was a regular stream of travellers along with the King's company on the Road, Andals mostly, merchants and farmers on their way from or to Annúminas. Of all the travelling groups on the Road that day, the Royal Procession was the largest. At the front of the column were the heralds, bearing fluttering standards with the crowned stag sigil of House Baratheon, and behind that was the golden lion on red of House Lannister, Tyrion's own House, but more importantly the House of Cersei Lannister, the Queen and Tyrion's sister. All about the column were mounted men-at-arms in Lannister red or Baratheon yellow, but around the King himself rode men in white, the famed Kingsguard. One of the Kingsguards rode beside Tyrion.

"I continue to be marveled by the ingenuity of these Dunedain," said Tyrion to Jaime Lannister, his brother, the Kingsguard and the Kingslayer.

"Is that so?" said Jaime.

"Quite so. Aegon the Conqueror gave them the bleakest, most barren land in the Kingdoms, and out of it they carve great cities and roads better than anything else in Westeros. It really is quite remarkable" Tyrion replied.

"It's a road" Jaime stated, unimpressed by the workmanship.

"It's an incredible road, especially for so far north. Inns placed almost exactly a day's journey apart from each other, markers for every mile, maps and itineraries at the major junctions, even service stations to repair carts, carriages or replace horseshoes. Why, you remember yesterday, when our sister's carriage broke a wheel and there was a wheelwright's station not too far away to repair it. And their relay posts for mounted messengers is really quite a sensible idea. I tell you, if we let the Numenoreans redo the whole Kingsroad, travel in the Kingdoms would be quite easier" explained the Dwarf.

"I suppose you're right. Though, you know what I have noticed" said Jaime.

"And what would that be? That all the people working at those inns and service stations and relay stables are all Westerosi and we haven't seen a single Numenorean since we crossed the border into the Realm-in-Exile two days ago?" said Tyrion

"Indeed, it is rather strange as we are in the Numenorean Realm"

"Many Westerosi live under the lordship of the Dunedain. As for the Dunedain themselves, I hear they prefer to live in their many towns and cities by the coast. They are very attached to the sea, the Numenoreans are. We are inland right now, thus we see mostly the Northerners who dwelt here before the Dunedain came across the sea." said Tyrion, retrieving a skin of wine from his saddlebag and taking a drink before offering some to his brother, who declined. They were near to Annúminas now

"Tall ships and tall lords, three times three

What brought they from the foundered land, over the flowing sea?

Seven stars and seven stones, and one white tree" Tyrion said softly to himself as the column began to ride up the final hill of their journey.

"What was that?" Jaime asked with a raised eyebrow, however Tyrion did not answer him, for at that moment did they come to the crest of the hill and their breath was taken away.

Before them lay Annúminas, the White City of Elendil and the gleaming Jewel of the North. Constructed all of white stone, it seemed to glisten like a pearl in the noonday sun. The townlands that surrounded the city were rich, even so far north, and they were well-irrigated from canals that led to the River Evendim, and the fields were tilled and there were many orchards rich with fruit. The fields were golden with wheat, and there were many herds of cattle. From their vantage point on the hill, they could see the Haven of Annúminas, with its great wharfs and shipyards, where countless ships were harboured, the famed White Fleet of the Dunedain. They saw dromunds and mighty galleys of many oars with swan or eagle figureheads, and amongst the sleek warships were merchantmen of great draught, bearing the trade wealth of the Seven Kingdoms into the greatest port of the North.

It was the city itself though, that caught and kept Tyrion's eyes. For such was the nature of Annúminas that it had been carved into a hill, so that the city's centre was raised above its edges, and all was constructed of the same white stone. The King's column rode through the farmlands and approached the mighty Gates of Dawn, wrought all of steel, which stood where the Kingsroad entered the city from the east. Tyrion now gazed upon one of the city's famous features: The Walls of Anarion. A great layer of fortifications that surrounded the city in a mighty circuit running from the shores of the sea to the west and the banks of the swift Evendim to the north. Around it all was a deep moat, fed by the waters of the sea, and at the Gate it was crossed by a strong stone causeway. The Outer Wall was of great height and thickness, rising over thirty feet, and it was black and smooth and hard, built by the art and power of the Numenoreans, and it was dotted with many strong towers, and the banners of the Dunedain fluttered in the wind atop the wall, and there was the glitter of arms and armour atop the battlements. The Gates of Dawn were guarded by a strong gatehouse at the end of the causeway across the moat, and the shod hooves of the King's procession echoed in the tunnel as the huge steel gates opened, and King Robert Baratheon entered his city.

They passed through a courtyard between the two walls, and then came to the second of the Gates of Dawn, set in the Inner Wall, which rose even taller than the Outer Wall, so that an archer on the Inner Wall could fire at foes who assailed the Outer Wall. And then, as they emerged from the darkness of the gatehouse into the sunlight, they were met with the blowing of trumpets and the cheering of thousands of voices. The main street of the city was lined with cheering men and women and children, and they bowed as the King himself passed them by. No longer was the procession surrounded by fellow Westerosi, now did Tyrion truly see Numenoreans for the first time. Tall, they were, even the women were over six feet and most of the men seven feet or more, with dark hair and grey eyes, and their voices were fair as they cheered and sang aloud at the coming of their King. Soldiers of the Realm-in-Exile lined the streets as well, and they had tall helms adorned with the wings of seabirds, and they carried long spears with kite shields and wore mail of black steel rings. On each soldier's chest was a surcoat of black, with a white tree sigil, and above the tree were seven silver stars.

It felt to Tyrion that he was trying to look everywhere at once, but it seemed as if Annúminas was too full of wonder to be real. The mansions were tall and stately, and even the smallest and meanest of houses in the city seemed homely and fair. Songs were sung by the joyous people, and music was played. At one corner, two young girls even ran up and gave flowers to King Robert, who was taken off-guard by the gesture, but seemed touched despite the fact. As they rode further into the centre of the city, the buildings grew grander and even more beautiful, and even Jaime looked impressed as they approached the Walls of Isildur, which ran through the centre of the city and rose even higher than the Walls of Anarion. For Annúminas was not just a fair city, but also a strong citadel, and it seemed unlikely to Tyrion that any foe of the Dunedain could seize it by force of arms if any remained within to defend the Walls.

At long last did they come to the Citadel of the House Elendil, at the very top of the City's hill, where the Tower of Elendil stood, tall and shapely like a spike of silver and pearl above the White City. At the gate, they dismounted, for no horses were allowed within the Citadel, and the Gates were guarded by men in the sombre, proud garb of the Guards of the Citadel. Passing beneath the shadow of the Citadel Gate, King Robert and his entourage came at length to a courtyard at the foot of the Tower, and in its centre was a fountain, beside which stood a white tree in full blossom, healthy and beautiful. All around the courtyard were the Citadel Guards, and they were on their knees before the King.

Standing before the fountain were three men, clad in finery of black and silver. The man in the centre was the tallest that Tyrion had ever seen, and though he had an ageless look about him, the glint in his grey eyes reflected his ancient age and wisdom. As King Robert came to stand before them, the three dropped down to their knees and bowed their heads before the King of the Eight Kingdoms.

"Rise" King Robert said, gesturing upwards with his hand, and Elendil, Lord of the Realm-in-Exile, stood up, nearly two full feet taller than his King. Elendil the Tall was a powerfully built man, with broad shoulders and a short dark beard flecked with grey to match the long hair upon his head.

"Welcome, Your Grace, to Annúminas. The Dunedain greet you, and Iluvatar smiles upon your visit. We were surprised to receive your raven from King's Landing, as no King has come to visit our fair City since the days of Tar-Aegon" Elendil said, his voice deep.

"It is my pleasure and honour then to be the first King to visit your magnificent city, Elendil" Robert said. 'Unusually diplomatic for him. Perhaps he's been practicing' thought Tyrion as he watched Robert extend a hand towards Elendil. However, Elendil did not shake Robert's hand in the Andal fashion, instead he clasped the King's forearm in the traditional Numenorean greeting, bowing his head as he did so.

King Robert turned to the left of Elendil, and was greeted by Anarion, shorter than his father and fairer-haired, with a pleasant, wise face, and he clasped forearms with him in the same fashion as he had with Elendil. He then turned right and was greeted by a very old friend.

"Isildur, my old friend you... look the same as always" Robert said with a chuckle as he looked up at the tall Dunedan. Isildur, who had the dark hair of his father and was almost as tall, broke out in a smile and embraced Robert. Tyrion had to bite back a chuckle at the amusing spectacle of Robert Baratheon, King of the Eight Kingdoms, embracing a man like Isildur, who was so tall that Robert's head only came up to Isildur's chest.

"And you, my friend, have gotten fat in your old age" Isildur responded.

"Fat? Is that how you speak to your King!" Robert said with sudden seriousness and intensity, and all was quiet and tense in the courtyard for a moment. Then the tenseness was broken as the King and the Lord of Minas Ithil broke out in peals of laughter, Isildur's great booming laugh echoing about the courtyard.

"Come, Your Grace, you must be weary. There shall be a feast and you shall join us in great merriment tonight, to celebrate your visit." Elendil said, as the three Lords of the Dunedain turned and walked towards the door of the Citadel, King Robert and his court following, and Tyrion Lannister feeling smaller than usual amongst the tall Numenoreans.

Everything the Dunedain built was magnificent, Tyrion realized as he sat at the head table in the feasting hall of the Citadel of Annúminas. The hall was no exception, with a high domed ceiling, great black stone pillars and stained glass windows depicting images from the history of Westeros and Numenor.

The 'great merriment' Elendil had spoken of, on the other hand, had no materialized. Though the Dunedain seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly, the feast seemed, so far, a very low-key affair. The wine was excellent, Tyrion admitted, but it was served by sombre footmen in black tunics, not by saucy wenches with full bosoms, as he was used too. The food too was exquisite, though they had not yet come to the main course of the feast yet.

"What this feast is lacking is entertainment" Tyrion said aloud after a sip of wine.

"My Lord Tyrion, you do not enjoy song?" said the Numenorean lord who sat to Tyrion's left. He struggled for a moment to put a name to the face, but finally recalled it from the numerous introductions earlier in the evening: Meneldil, eldest son of Anarion, who shared his father's fair hair and kindly features.

"No, Lord Meneldil, I rather enjoy song, but I like a song with a tune you can whistle too, something a bit... happier than this. This is very beautiful, but it sounds like a funeral lament. And I would prefer a song in a language I can understand" Tyrion replied.

"Alas, I understand your complaint, for all our songs have been sad since the fall of our homeland, and all of them are in the tongue of Elves, we do not make songs in the tongue of the Andals, and the effect and rhythm of this song would be lost if we sung it in your tongue" Meneldil answered.

"What is the song about, if you would be kind enough to translate the tale?" Tyrion asked.

"It would be my pleasure. The minstrel sings of Luthien Tinuviel, an immortal Elf-maiden, and how she fell in love with-"

"Beren, a mortal man" Tyrion said softly, cutting off Meneldil. The Dunedan was confused for a moment, before he broke out in a wide smile.

"It appears we have a scholar of the old lore amongst us!" Meneldil laughed, and Tyrion smiled at him.

"I have read what little I could find that had been translated from your language. Alas, the history of the Dunedain is a rather niche field of knowledge in the south" Tyrion replied.

"Ah, then if you are interested, I shall have my personal copyists translate several volumes of our history into your tongue, to be mailed to you for your own study" said Meneldil with a smile. Tyrion was flabbergasted: No scholar in all of the Kingdoms outside of the Realm-in-Exile had ever had a chance to study the whole history of the Numenoreans.

"I am... honoured, my Lord Meneldil" he said, to which the kindly Dunadan only smiled.

"Ah, the main course, you shall want to watch this" Meneldil said then, as the doors at the end of the hall were flung open with a chorus of trumpets.

Split between two poles, and carried by six straining men, came a whole roast ox, steaming and hot from the fires, and the six men laid it upon a flat board in the wide, open space in the centre of the hall, where all the guests could see it. One of the men who had born the ox into the hall unsheathed a sword from his side, and a murmur ran through the crowd of guests, as King Robert watched the man closely. With a flourish, the servant slashed into the ox and split it's belly open. Sausages spilled out like entrails, and there were many hot, steaming onions and herbs stuffed in the animal as well. Two men then rushed to the split belly and pulled out a whole sheep, roasted inside the ox. With another swing of the sword, this sheep's own belly was split, and the servants pulled out a roasted pig. The swordsman turned to the guests with a knowing wink and a sigh of mock exasperation, and then swung his blade again, and out of the pig came a cooked kid goat and many baked apples stuffing the empty spaces around it. Again and again the sword swung, and out of each animal came a smaller one, a fat goose, a chicken, and finally a partridge.

Then when the whole mouth-watering meal was laid out, the six servants sprang to work with knives, and soon every single guest was tucking into a favoured joint or slice from a favoured animal. There was fresh, warm bread and heaps of vegetables, fruit both fresh and dried, roasted fish, and the wine flowed from fountains. The musicians, at a word from Meneldil, launched into a merry tune and soon the hall was filled with laughter and the sounds of merry-making.

It was that night that Tyrion Lannister realized that, like everything else in the Numenorean Realm, their hospitality was magnificent.

The white stone of Annúminas almost seemed to gleam dully in the pale light of moon and stars as Isildur stood, overlooking his father's city from a balcony of the Tower. The skies were clear, and the stars shone brightly in the darkness alongside a slender crescent moon to match Isildur's own heraldry. A cool breeze was blowing in from the sea, through Isildur's dark hair, as the tall Dunedain lord sighed and drained his goblet of wine. Down the hall, Isildur still heard the sounds of merrymaking from the feast, but for once Isildur was in no mood for revelry. For one very near and dear to the Lord of Minas Ithil was absent, and his absence was sorely felt. Leaning upon the stone railing, Isildur began to hum a soft tune to himself.

"Ah, there you are my old friend" said a familiar voice, less slurred than Isildur would've expected at this time of the evening. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Robert Baratheon standing in the doorway.

"My king," Isildur said, quickly turning and dropping to a knee.

"Oh come off it Isildur, you High Men have always been too damn formal" Robert said with a chuckle as he walked out to join Isildur by the railing, a jug of wine in one hand and a goblet in the other. Refilling Isildur's goblet, they clinked their cups together and then drank deeply of the rich Numenorean wine.

"You have something important to tell me Robert" Isildur said as he lowered his goblet, regarding the King with his seemingly ageless grey eyes, eyes which seemed to reflect long years far beyond the age of Isildur's appearance.

"Gods, you know I hate it when you do that to me!" Robert said, swearing under his breath.

"It's all in the eyes Your Grace; you Andals always give it away with your eyes. But I must be very careful around your people, for I could leave many of them broken in mind and spirit if I am not careful. Do not worry, my friend, the very fact that you are standing here today means I have never done that to you" Isildur said with a gentle smile.

"You seem a bit off Isildur, speak your mind. You know I was your friend before I was your King" said Robert. For a long moment, Isildur was silent, staring at the stars, contemplation in his grey Numenorean eyes.

"It is my youngest son, Valandil. He has left, gone into the East, to the Free Cities, struck with wanderlust" Isildur spoke at last.

"I always told you that you should've just taken him all about the Kingdoms and made the Nine. Get all that young stupidity out of his head, make him into a man" Robert replied with a laugh and another slug of his wine.

"Valar Above, not everything can be solved with fornication Robert. Besides, Valandil is old enough to make his own decisions. He can travel where and when he pleases, but his brothers and I… He is dearly missed" Isildur answered, exasperated at first.

"Fornication? You mean fucking? Gods, you Dunedain are too bloody grave. No wonder you always got along so well with the Starks. Come on Isil, you know those Riverlands girls would go mad to have a Dunedain princeling like your son between their legs. Hells, I'm surprised you never took a whore to your tent during the War"

"Because I, unlike all your southern lords, am an honourable man" said Isildur, rolling his eyes, then continued: "I know you didn't come all the way out here to feast and reminisce on old times. You can speak plainly with me Robert, I am not my father. What do you need to ask me?"

Again, all was silence on the balcony, broken only by the sounds of the feast from within the hall. Now it was Robert who stared out at the stars, deep thought clear on his bearded face. He turned and looked up at his tall Numenorean friend.

"Jon Arryn is dead" he said at last, darkly.

"And you want me to be the new Hand?" Isildur answered, clearly perceiving Robert's intentions.

"Aye, that I do. I need you Isildur. I'm not fond of you damned Dunedain, but you are cannier and wiser than any in the Kingdoms, and you are the only one of the Dunedain that I can stand and I know I can trust." said the King. Immediately, Isildur dropped to his knee again, bowing his head and placing a closed fist on his chest.

"You honour me, Your Grace" Isildur said. Robert laughed again, and drained the wine from his goblet in one long swig.

"Gods' sake Isildur, it's not an honour. I'm trying to get you to run my kingdom for me while I eat, drink and whore my way into an early grave" Robert said with a great booming laugh, and as Isildur stood up again he soon joined in and the unlikely pair stood there and laughed together.

"There's only two people in this kingdom I can truly trust: You and Ned Stark. When I leave this city tomorrow, you're coming with me Isildur, to Winterfell. We need to talk Ned into coming south with us" said Robert as his laughter died.

"Ned will not come, he is settled and happy. He fought your battles, made you King, let him grow old in the bliss of his marriage bed" Isildur replied, pouring himself more wine from the jug.

"That's a damn shame because he will have to come. I am the King after all" Robert answered with a laugh.

"If I may ask, Your Grace, why do you need both Ned and I, if I am to be Hand?" Isildur asked.

"I have realized something Isildur. Maybe I realized it when I was drunk, or maybe that eunuch Varys just told me, but I realized it still. This kingdom is too divided, all these damn noble houses and their private armies. I want to build something new, something to unite Westeros. I want to be remembered as more than the drunken Usurper" said Robert with a rare seriousness for him.

"Maybe drink less then?" Isildur replied drolly.

"Is that how you speak to your King!" said Robert, in mock outrage. A long moment passed before he burst into laughter, and Isildur's great booming laughter joined him.

"No, no, I don't think I'll be able to do that old friend, but I will be remembered as more than the brute who killed the damned Targaryen prince. I need something to unite the land, to secure the Throne for my heirs, to defend the land from civil war or foreign invasion" Robert continued.

"You mean to create a royal host? A King's Host?" Isildur said, again perceiving the King's mind.

"Aye, that I do. Ned must command it, and you must be my Hand. It was the three of us that struck the Targaryens down, we were meant to rule together Isildur" Robert said, speaking with surprising sincerity.

"You do me a great honour Robert, I only hope I can repay you as your Hand" Isildur answered, and he topped up both of their cups with the wine, and together they drained their goblets in toast.

"Now come on Isildur, I think they must be noticing that their King and Isildur Moonlord have been absent so long" said Robert, clapping his friend on the back as the curious pair turned away from the railing and the short King of Eight Kingdoms and the tall Lord of Minas Ithil walked off the balcony and returned to the warmth and festivity of the feast.

Neither of them noticed the dark shadow that passed across the pale silver crescent of the moon.

In the small hours of the morning, with the noise and the revelry of the feast having died away, the Tower of Elendil seemed unnaturally quiet as Isildur walked the long stone corridors. A pleasant breeze blew in through the arrow slits on the left wall of the hallway. Behind him, the Great Hall was filled with the sounds of snoring men as the numerous guards and servants who had come north with King Robert slept upon the rush-covered floor. The King himself and his family had been led to their own private bedchambers, though; Isildur remembered with a smile, Robert had seemed a little disappointed to be going to bed without a whore on both arms.

As he walked, deep in thought, Isildur heard soft music, the sounds of the strings of a lute being strummed by a skilled and experienced hand, and a fair and clear voice singing. It was coming from the open door of the Tower's library, at the end of the corridor. Isildur smiled, that could only be one person. Quietly, he pushed the oaken door open further, and looked into the room.

The Tower Library was much smaller than the Great Library of Meneldil that Isildur's nephew had constructed for the city, and a much more cozy and personal place for Elendil and his sons. It was a circular room, with a fireplace set opposite the doorway, and stuffed and cushioned chairs near the fireplace, wooden desks and tables, and book shelves ringing the room. There was a ladder that led up to a second level, a mere walkway around the walls which supported more book shelves, for Elendil and his sons had always been voracious readers and over the centuries they had accumulated many favourite books from across the Kingdoms in this place.

In one of the chairs by the fireplace sat Anarion, a lute in his hands, the music of the stringed instrument blending with the music of his voice into a single, soft melodious song.

"You were always more the musician than I" Isildur said as he walked into the room. Anarion stopped his playing, looking up at his older brother with a smile and stood up to greet him.

"Not that it ever won much favour from Father. Ah, let us not speak of that, how are you my dear brother?" Anarion said as he embraced Isildur.

"Much troubles my mind. Anarion, I must ask for your counsel" Isildur replied. Anarion looked at him strangely as they released each other.

"You've never asked for my counsel before, Isildur, and you have always kept your own. Pray tell, what troubles you?" Anarion said.

They sat down by the fire and Isildur was silent for a long moment, eyes closed and his hands clasped together before his face in thought. When he finally reopened them, he spoke

"Jon Arryn has died. Tar-Robert wishes for me to become his new Hand"

"This was bound to happen sooner or later, Isildur, you are noble and wise. The King has made a good choice" Anarion said "What then is troubling to you?"

"What good am I in that pit of snakes down in King's Landing? They're vicious backstabbers down there; they've always been like that for as long as we have dwelled in this land" answered Isildur. "And after the things that the Troll did to Rhaegar's wife and children… I don't know if I can serve in such a place"

"All the more reason for you to go to King's Landing. As Hand to Tar-Robert, you can bring the Troll to justice. What Ser Gregor did was monstrous, befitting the name we give him, and he must pay. I know the King is not fond of our people, he'd only ask if he truly trusted and needed you"

"I cannot help but feel ill at ease taking up such an office, brother. King's Landing is full of plots and intrigues, and the last time we dealt with such things, we lost our home…" Isildur said, staring hard at the hearth, the light of the fire reflected in his grey eyes.

"That was the Enemy, and no one's fault but his!" Anarion said immediately, his face stern.

"Yes and his ruin pulled our homeland and so many of our countrymen down with it. Oh, forgive me brother, I am melancholy tonight. I do not relish this task that Robert has appointed to me" said Isildur.

"That much is clear, but the honour is great, and Tar-Robert is a friend who clearly feels that his need is great" Anarion replied.

"What is the King's need?" said another voice. They looked to the door to see their father, Elendil, entering the library.

"Father, Robert has asked me to become the new Hand of the King" explained Isildur. His father's face was unreadable as he stood by a bookshelf, and chose himself a favoured book, before pulling up a chair next to Anarion, and sitting with the book open in his large hands. There was a moment of long silence, broken only by the crackling of the fire, and eventually the idle strumming of Anarion's lute.

"Has there been any word from Valandil?" Elendil asked at last.

"He was in Braavos when he wrote us the last letter. We have had no word since then, nearly two months now. Nothing…" Isildur answered.

"You are worried for him?"

"Of course I am; he's my youngest son. He's only in his eighties, and never been so far from home before" Elendil looked up from his book at his eldest son and he smiled.

"I remember a certain member of our house who stole his way into the Royal Palace back home when he was in his mere teens,"

"Well, that was a different time, a different place. And I had a good reason!" Isildur stammered, scratching the back of his head as his brother and father chuckled at the memory.

"You're always the same: Rushing off, headfirst into danger, never a thought of failure or defeat in your mind. It's been that way since we were boys" Anarion said.

"Let me share a secret of fatherhood with you two: No matter how old your children get, some things always stay the same. How fare your families these days? Tell me of all my grandchildren" Elendil said, smiling through his short beard.

"Miriel is pregnant again, she and her husband are very happy; they hope it'll be a little girl. You know Indis and Almarien, no man is ever good enough for them, and I'm beginning to despair that they'll ever find husbands" Anarion laughed, and his father and brother laughed with him. "As for Meneldil: He was happy to come with me to visit you, father, last I saw him he was discussing some point of lore with that little man who came with the King's retinue" Isildur spoke next:

"Almiel is also pregnant, Ciryon is so excited, he hopes for a third son. Elendur is beginning to speak of moving to Orthanc, the citadel of Minas Ithil is becoming crowded with all of the children about. He says he should like to enlist Meneldil in helping him enlarge it to accommodate his family and to further guard our northern frontier. Aratan has yet to find a woman; his chief pastime has always been in the practice of arms, the hunt and the sailing of ships from our havens" Elendil smiled at his two sons, fatherly love warm in his glinting grey eyes, the eyes shared by all of his house.

He set down his book and stood up from his chair and walked to the heart, staring into the blazing fire, deep in thought.

"Family comes first, that was what my father said to me, and his father said to him, and all of our line going back to Earendil himself, and I have tried to pass it on to you as best I can" He said at last. Isildur and Anarion exchanged glances.

"If you were to turn the King down to stay with your family, I think he would understand. It would be an honourable reason. But, like all the kings of this land, he takes what he wants, and he wants you. I know the distrust and distaste that Tar-Robert must feel for we Dunedain, Valar Above, I have seen that from every great king and mighty lord of Westeros except the Starks. I know that if he is asking one of us to be Hand, he must feel that his need is great. I have tried to be a shield for our people against the scheming and plotting in the rest of the Kingdom, especially of those Lannisters, but I fear we cannot be isolated forever, and more than that I fear that you becoming Hand would drag us into the feuding"

"Father, he is my friend, and he is the King" Isildur said.

"You are noble, my son, and it is a noble thing to wish to help your friend. You have always been a man to take your own counsel and to chart your own course, but all I ask is that you consider my words, and consider the effect that taking up the station of Hand could have on your family and your people. We are the only Dunedain left in all the world, we must protect ourselves, and keep the Faith" Elendil said, turning away from the fire and regarding each of his sons in turn.

"That may not be true" Anarion said darkly. Elendil and Isildur stared at him hard, their expressions demanding him to explain.

"Word has reached my ears of a growing power in far Essos. It could just be rumours, but it could also be whispers of a nameless fear. Always it seems that the dark and terrible things of the world creep up out of the east. There have been rumours of black ships raiding amongst the Free Cities, raiding merchant ships and coastal villages, killing the men and carrying off the women and children as slaves. They are tall men, with grey eyes, and the rumours say they are sailors without equal, and that they take their slaves to a hidden haven, far to the east of Slaver's Bay." He said. There was a dark hard gleam in Elendil's eyes.

"But what worries me father, what keeps me up at night, is this: They sail in black ships with black sails, and their sails bear a single badge: A lidless red eye, with a cat's pupil, wreathed in flames"

"He was destroyed. Undone and overthrown in the wreck of Numenor" Isildur said, clenching his fists.

"Is it even possible to kill one such as him?" Anarion replied.

"If he has followed us even here, I will travel to the East to slay him myself and find out. And if he rises again, I shall slay him again, and again, and as many times as I must until the Enemy learns to stay dead" Isildur said through gritted teeth.

"Calm yourself my son; your valour is not needed yet. We must be prudent, for we do not have the answers yet. If we act with too much haste, we may panic the Andals, and panic and fear lead to foolish action and much regret. Anarion, have you told anyone else of this?" spoke Elendil.

"No Father, I have kept it to myself until know"

"This is good. We must keep this to ourselves, let our people enjoy these golden days of peace, for they may be our last. Dark have been my dreams of late, and I had vainly hoped that all of the Black Numenoreans had been sunk with our home. If these are indeed the servants of the Enemy and the worshippers of the Dark Power, they will come for us as certainly as winter follows fall" Elendil said, his face ashen. In one moment, the two sons saw their father in a new light: The ageless Elendil seemed transformed before them into an old man, full of weariness. Yet that belied that wisdom in his eyes and the strength still left in his mighty limbs.

"What would you have us do, my Lord?" Isildur asked as both and Anarion stood. The three stood close together, and Elendil put one hand on the shoulders of each of his sons.

"Isildur, you must go to King's Landing and take up the office of Hand. Take a palantir with you, secret and safe, so that we may speak across all the miles between here and King's Landing. You must begin to prepare the Kingdoms for this, if these are truly our ancient enemies. Tell no one of this, I have no doubt that certain nobles would seek to profit from this threat somehow. The lust for power is deep amongst some of the Andals, and many of them are short-sighted fools because of it. Take Aratan and Ohtar with you, in a place like King's Landing it is best to have comrades at your side. Do everything you can to prepare, and avoid the scheming as best you can. If these are the Black Numenoreans and the houses of this land cannot put aside their differences, great ruin will come upon us all"

"And me, Father?" Anarion asked.

"Your skills as a builder have only grown over the years, my son. Begin an inspection of our borders, and start enforcing the most vital of the defenses, especially at our havens here and at you and your brother's cities. Your son-in-law Earnur, and his son Earendur, I have seen the great ships they build. Give them as many resources as you can and have them build many more ships of war. Increase our production of weapons and raise as many more companies of men-at-arms as you can without arising suspicion or panic. And start storing food for sieges at our principal strongholds. Isildur must prepare the whole of Westeros, you Anarion must prepare our own Realm. All of us have some part to play in this, great or small" answered the Lord of the Dunedain.

"There is a dark storm coming, I can feel it" Anarion said. Elendil drew both his sons together into an embrace, and the family held each other there for a long moment. When they broke apart, there was a dark hard gleam in Isildur's eyes to match his father's. He spoke then, resolute and determined:

"They took our home from us once, they shall not have it again"

The sun rose early over Annúminas the next morning, golden light bouncing off white stone to give the city the gleaming and glowing appearance. The people of the city rose with the sun, soon filling the streets with the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the busiest port in northern Westeros. The sun reflected off the white stone gave the city a stifling heat not often found so far north, and the streets were filled with the clatter of carts' wheels on the cobblestones, the laughter of children and the exasperated shouts of their mothers and nurses, the harking calls of storekeepers, musicians, actors, scribes, fishwives, bakers, cooks and merchants and traders of every description, and the ever-present background noise of thousands of people talking and laughing together. They were the sounds of the happy and industrious citizens of a vibrant city starting another day.

Out in the havens, the air was filled not with the sounds of a city, but the sounds of seabirds, and the splashing of oars. The great dromonds of the White Fleet were ever coming and going from their berths in the havens of Annúminas, their banks of oars propelling them swiftly through the harbour before they could get out of the bay to the open sea where the skilled Numenorean sailors could set their square-rigged sails, for the White Fleet was ever –vigilant and ever in the exercise and training of its sailors. Amongst the warships came cogs and longships and merchant vessels of every size and shape, trade and wealth flowing freely between the Realm-in-Exile and the other Seven Kingdoms.

All this Isildur watched from a high balcony of the Tower of Elendil, and he smiled at his people's happiness and prosperity. Then he turned away from the railing and walked into the keep with long, purposeful strides. As he turned a corner in the corridor towards the great hall, he found Anarion, his fair-haired younger brother already on the way to break his fast in the hall.

"Ah, good morning brother," Anarion said as his dark-haired older brother fell into step beside him.

"And good morning to you Anarion, how fared your sleep?" Isildur replied

"Well enough. I have almost everything prepared for the gift-giving and the King's departure. The artisans had to work all night, but they have prepared some very fine things. Have you packed for the journey to King's Landing?" said Anarion

"Yes I have, nursemaid" Isildur said wryly "I don't believe anything could be left behind on Ohtar's watch," he added.

"Too true, I have never known him to be a lazy squire!" Anarion replied, and then added: "I am having some trouble selecting a parting gift for Lord Tyrion"

"A book surely? The little Lannister is quite an avid reader I am told," Isildur suggested.

"Alas, Meneldil has already promised Lord Tyrion several volumes of our people's history, translated for his benefit. He's got his entire team of scribes working on it already, in addition to just about every other scribe in the tower!" Anarion ranted, eliciting a laugh from Isildur.

"Like father, like son," the older brother said, clapping Anarion on the back as the two of them turned a corner and, opening a heavy oak door, came into the great hall.

Isildur cast his eyes around the hall that he and his family had built together. Rays of golden light streamed into the great hall from stained glass windows set in deep alcoves along both sides of the hall. Monolithic black pillars rose to support a high vaulted roof, painted with great frescoes of scenes from the history of the Dunedain: The discovery of Numenor, the prayers on Meneltarma, Numenorean mariners charting the world, Elendil and his nine ships escaping the Downfall, the landing on Westeros, the construction of Annúminas, the pledging of allegiance to Aegon the Conqueror, Elendil slaying the dragon Vaelion. Between the mighty pillars were fine marble statues depicting every King of Numenor and Lord of Andunie that had kept the faith in all of the long history of the Dunedain. At the westernmost end of the hall was a raised dais with three stone thrones upon it, one in the centre raised above the others. One of the thrones had a sun carved into the back, and the other had a crescent moon, while the central throne was decorated with a carving of a single many-rayed star. The floor was a polished white, inlaid with patterns traced in gold. There were no tapestries or woven things in the Hall of Annúminas, and the only things of wood were the long tables were presently sat King Robert, his family and many of his men, eating a morning meal.

"The usual if you please," Isildur said to a footman, who saluted in the Dunedain fashion with clasped hand on chest and head bowed before turning to his errand.

Isildur and Anarion walked down the line of long tables, past the numerous Baratheon men-at-arms who had come north with the King. Isildur eyed some of their guests, for he knew that many Lannister soldiers were accompanying the Royal retinue as well. They came to the head table, where the Royal Family sat.

"Good morning Your Grace, I hope you passed the night comfortably," Isildur said as he sat down.

"Seven Hells Isildur! Doesn't your family ever wear anything other than black and silver?" the King replied in an exasperated voice as he swept a critical eye over the brothers. Isildur exchanged a look with Anarion.

"They are favoured colours Your Grace, without a doubt," Anarion said. The footman returned with plates of food for Isildur and Anarion. Their plates were heaped with bread, pastries, cheese, fillets of fish, rashers of bacon and fried eggs. Then Isildur and Anarion both turned and faced west, towards the head of the hall, and bowed their heads and were silent for a moment, while members of the Royal Family exchanged confused glances at the unfamiliar custom. Without a word, the two Numenorean lords turned back to their food and began to eat.

"I saw you and your people do that at the feast last night, I must ask: Why do you do that?" asked Queen Cersei Lannister. Isildur quirked an eyebrow at the Queen's question, he hadn't expected a Lannister of all people to be curious about Dunedain customs.

"It is in memory of our homeland, Your Grace," Anarion said quietly after swallowing a mouthful of food.

The point passed, and conversation returned to the high table. Isildur was quiet as he ate; speaking little and observing much about the family that he would soon live alongside in the Red Keep. He was a lord of the Dunedain-in-Exile, and he could see much that a lesser man would miss. Isildur noted that the looks between the King and Queen were cold and unloving, and he also noted that seemed good-natured in Isildur's estimation. However, there was something in the eyes of Prince Joffrey, the eldest, which Isildur did not like.

"I hear you are to join us in King's Landing," said a voice which drew Isildur out of his reverie. He looked across the table to see a blond, handsome man with flashing green eyes, in the white armour of the Kingsguard. 'This could be none other than Jaime Lannister' Isildur thought.

"That we are, it is my honour to travel to King's Landing to become the Hand," Isildur replied.

"I'm sure we shall have a tournament in your honour after we return, it will be good to have you on the field, the competition has been becoming stale lately," Jaime said.

"I'm not a tourney fighter," stated Isildur.

"Too good to dirty your hands with the lesser mortals?" Jaime said, his voice almost snide.

"I'm not a tourney fighter because Numenorean knights train to kill, not to knock their friends off horses," Isildur answered.

"Well said," Jaime replied with a wolfish grin.

When all the men had broken their fast, preparations began for the departure. Ohtar, Isildur's energetic and burly squire, was everywhere, overseeing the shoeing and tacking of horses, the packing of provisions, clothing and gear, and the preparation of carts and wains.

Aratan, Isildur's third son, was energetic too, lending his expert eye to the selection and equipping of the fifty Numenorean men-at-arms that would accompany their Lord Isildur to the south. Weapons and armour were to be packed as well, wrapped in oiled cloth and stored in weatherproofed barrels and bags to prevent their rusting. They chose swords and daggers for themselves, and long lances for use from horseback. Each man took a steelbow as well, for every Numenorean took pride and joy in the practice of archery, and none ever wished to depart without his people's ancestral weapon. Every member of Isildur's personal guard was given a hauberk of black steel rings, and black surcoats with the silver tree, moon and stars that was Isildur's personal sigil, and kite shields emblazoned with the same device were provided. And each took a helm, high-crested and decorated with the wings of seabirds. The Baratheon and Lannister men that accompanied the King looked with jealousy to the fineness and beauty of the Numenorean arms that Isildur's men would carry.

As the long procession finally drew ready to depart, Elendil met with the King and the Royal Family, the Kingsguard, and Isildur himself in the Great Hall. Elendil and Anarion stood, in fine black robes, with silver circlets upon their brows, before them all. Isildur, on the other hand, had discarded his fineries for the simpler clothes he preferred to travel in, and he noted that most of the company had done the same.

"Your Grace, my King, honourable Tar-Robert, First of Your Name, you have honoured us with your presence and your visit to our fair city. Annúminas shall always stand ready to welcome you, Your Grace," Elendil said, with a courtly flourish and a bow to the King.

"Elendil, Lord of the Dunedain, your hospitality was magnificent, and your son has done me a great service by agreeing to become my Hand. He is a true friend, and the friendship of the Dunedain shall not be forgotten," Robert replied courteously. 'He's not too bad at this courtly stuff when he tries at it. Too bad he rarely tries' Isildur thought.

"Nor shall Your Grace's favour be forgotten amongst the Dunedain. May my son serve you with honour, and may he be returned here safely when his duty is done" Elendil said.

"In our homeland in ancient times, the Elves bequeathed to us a tradition: When a guest departs from our halls, he must leave with a gift from his hosts. To that end, we have prepared gifts for you, Your Grace, your family and your followers," Anarion said. As he spoke, servants in black came forward from the end of the hall, carrying the gifts. The first one approached Robert and knelt before the King, holding before him a black scabbard with a small stag sigil inlaid in silver near the throat. More servants came forth and presented each member of the Kingsguard with a similar scabbard in white.

"To you and your Kingsguard, Your Grace, we present Dunedain scabbards. No blade drawn from these scabbards shall ever blunt or break or fail in the heat of battle," Elendil said. Ser Barristan Selmy looked at Elendil with some skepticism of this claim, but took the beautiful scabbard anyways.

Next the footman bowed to the members of the royal family and presented each with a gift. To the Queen they gave a necklace adorned with precious stones, Prince Joffrey received a wide belt of gold, Princess Myrcella a beautifully made doll with dark hair and grey eyes, and to Prince Tommen they gave a short, curving dagger which he looked at with some trepidation, while his elder brother gazed at it with jealousy in his eyes.

"Tyrion Lannister," Anarion said to the dwarf, who stood by the side of the hall watching the ceremony with some interest.

"Yes my Lord Anarion?" Tyrion said, standing up from leaning against a pillar.

"We have a gift for you as well," Anarion said with a kindly smile.

"Surely not my Lord, your son Lord Meneldil has already promised me a magnificent gift," Tyrion replied.

"That is true, but it shall not be ready for many months, and you leave today. Perhaps your stature will prevent you from ever becoming a great warrior, but nonetheless every man must be ready to defend themselves at some point in their lives. Therefore take this, a short sword from our Armouries, it is light and will suit you well," Anarion said, and gestured forward with his hand. A servant came and presented Tyrion with the weapon, in a black sheath not dissimilar, though less ornate, than the one the King now carried. He drew out the sword; the blade had a gentle leaf-shape to it, and was inlaid with flowing characters in red and silver. The whole weapon felt marvellously light and well-balanced, and it was short enough for a man of Tyrion's stature.

"You are right my lord: I will never be a great warrior. To speak plainly, this would be better used in the hands of another, but I shall bear it with pride nonetheless," Tyrion said with a grateful bow.

A footman came to Elendil then and handed him something long, wrapped in cloth. He held it with a certain fondness and a smile on his face and walked over to his son Isildur who stood next to the King. He unwrapped the cloth to reveal a sheathed sword, with the sword belt wrapped around the scabbard. The sword was long, with a steel crossbar, the hilt was wrapped in leather which was inlaid with narrow lines of silver and gold, and the pommel was engraved with elvish runes. Isildur's eyes widened, he recognized that hilt, and he recognized the sword.

"Narsil," Isildur said reverently. Elendil held it out towards his son.

"Take it Isildur," Elendil said. Isildur's eyes widened in shock.

"No, father, I cannot take this. It is the Sword of the Lord of the Dunedain, it is yours by right," Isildur said, shaking his head,

"And you are my heir, and it is mine to give to my heir when I wish. Bear it with you with honour, may it always defend the Realm," Elendil replied, and held it out further towards Isildur.

"Thank you father, there is no gift that could equal this," Isildur said. He unbuckled his belt and removed his own sword from his side, wrapping the belt around it and handing it to Ohtar, who stood behind his lord. Then he took Narsil and secured the belt around his waist. Narsil was a little longer than his own blade, and felt unfamiliar at his side, but Elendil smiled to see his son wearing the sword. However, Isildur did not miss the bitter look on Anarion's face as he saw his older brother already carrying Narsil.

With each man and woman having received their gift, great or small, the King's company turned and filed from the Great Hall, footsteps clattering on the marble floors. Together they came to the courtyard with its fountain and the White Tree standing beside, and all their horses waiting for them with servants holding the reins. As the King mounted, the whole company mounted in unison, but Isildur remained standing beside Fleetfoot, his huge black gelding, while his father and brother stood near to him.

"You're the best man I know," Anarion said to him, the bitterness was gone now from his face and sincerity was plain in his tone.

"Do your duty Isildur, and then come home safely, that is all I ask my son" Elendil said. Isildur embraced them each in turn, and then swung up into the saddle of his horse.

"Farewell to all of you! May the blessings of Illuvatar and all the Valar be with you, and may the good wishes of Dunedain and Andals and the First Men and all people of the Eight Kingdom follow you on the Road" Elendil cried in a voice loud and clear enough so that the whole procession could hear him, and he raised his hand in farewell. Robert swung his arm forward, and riders spurred their horses onwards, while there was a cracking of whips as the drivers of carts and the Queen's carriage sprung their vehicles into motion.

Raising his hand to his father and brother one last time, Isildur set the spurs to Fleetfoot and trotted forward, beneath the Citadel Gate, and onto the road that would take them east, out of Annúminas and onto the Kingsroad. With a great clattering of hooves on cobbles, and the groaning of wains, and the sounds of wooden wheels on the road, the King's great company departed from the Tower of Elendil. Elendil himself stood there, beneath the White Tree, and watched them leave, and after they were gone he stood there in thought for a long moment. Then he sighed, and turned, and walked back into his hall.


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

**Pentos**

It was midday in Pentos, with a cool breeze coming off the bay, and the sky full of white clouds when Valandil came to stand before the gatehouse of the manse of Illyrio Mopatis. His grey Numenorean eyes scanned his surroundings. The walls of the manse were twelve feet tall, surmounted by iron spikes. On the air, he could smell the tell-tale scents of a well-kept and extensive garden. Valandil cast his gaze to the skies and observed the position of the sun, by his estimation it was a half an hour past noon. His companion was late. Late by half an hour to be precise, and even though he was the son of a great lord who rarely had had to work for anything in his life, Valandil knew that it was unseemly to show up late on the first day of employment. Impatiently, he drummed his fingers on the leather-wrapped hilt of the finely-made bastard sword that was sheathed at his side and shifted his shoulders under the weight of the pack and the gear he carried on his back.

"Are you intending to move in? A comfortable house no doubt, but perhaps a little rich for your blood my friend" said a familiar voice. Valandil turned his head to see Ser Jorah Mormont approaching from down the road, leading a horse by the bridle, and dressed in the finest tunic and cloak he could muster. Not particularly fine, in Valandil's estimation, but he wouldn't expect more from a fellow sellsword.

"The good Magister Illyrio is hiring us to protect his wards, is he not? I must be prepared to travel where they do. You told me that our employment begins today Jorah" Valandil answered.

"Aye, that is does Dúnadan, but today is the wedding, and I know Numenoreans love your gray cloaks and green longcoats, but it isn't very festive Strider" Ser Jorah replied. Valandil smiled softly.

"Have I ever seemed very festive to you?" he said, and they both chuckled.

Together, Jorah and Valandil passed beneath the gatehouse into the manse itself. They found themselves in a broad, tidy courtyard with a pool of water in the centre. Atop a plinth in the pool was a statue of painted marble, depicting a youthful man, lithe and strong, with golden hair and a blade in hand, poised to duel an unseen adversary. Hedges and grassy lawns lined either side of the paved courtyard, and a long stairway at the end of it led up to the main house of the manse.

"I don't think you'll get much use of that steel-bow out in the Dothraki Sea" Jorah remarked, eying the tube of waxed weatherproof canvas containing the steel-bow slung across Valandil's back.

"There isn't another bow to match it in all of the Free Cities, Ser Jorah, and you know that. It's a little piece of my homeland, and that burden I shall gladly bear" said Valandil

As they stopped at the bottom of the staircase, a man came down to greet them. He was tall, though not nearly as tall as Valandil, and quite fat, even obese, with heavy jowls and rotund cheeks. His hair and beard were a striking yellow, and his beard was forked. There was a glitter of gold and silver rings on his fingers, and the man wore long robes of rich quality.

"Ah, it is good to see you again Ser Jorah, and this is the companion you promised?" said the man.

"That he is Magister. In Braavos, I saw him cleave a man from shoulder to hip, and I have traveled with him and know him to be stalwart and honourable. You would be hard-pressed to find a better bodyguard for the Targaryens" Jorah answered. 'Ah, so this is Illyrio Mopatis. Fatter than I expected' thought Valandil.

"I trust your word Ser Jorah. What is your name, Ser?" Illyrio said, looking Valandil up and down, eying the sword at his hip and the canvas bag on his back.

"Strider, just Strider" Valandil said softly.

"Strider… Curious accent you have, I can't seem to place it. Where are you from Strider?" Illyrio asked.

"Many places" Valandil replied.

"I see. The Dothraki will be here soon, and I see you have no horse Strider. I shall have one of my servants bring you one from my stables; consider it your first payment. I trust Ser Jorah's word that you will prove to be worth it" Illyrio said, turning away from the two mercenaries and striding back up the stairs into the manse.

"Making friends already Dúnadan?" Jorah said.

"Ser Jorah, my friend, I would ask that you keep my background to yourself. There is much superstition about my people here in the East, and I doubt that the Dothraki will prove much different" Valandil said, looking at Jorah pointedly.

"Very well my friend, but I can't exactly conceal the fact that you're over seven feet tall, gray eyed, dark haired and carry a bloody steel-bow. It's hard to hide a Numenorean" replied the shorter man.

Soon enough, one of Illyrio's stable hands brought a bay horse for Valandil. He could see that the animal was well built as the boy led it towards him, large enough even for Valandil, but from the wildness in the eye and the flaring of the nostrils and the jerking movement of the head, he could also see that it was a spirited and wild animal. 'Of course Illyrio would only part with a useless horse for a first payment' Valandil thought, examining the horse with a critical eye as it was led. Its movement was good, and the animal had a good bend in the knees, with thick and powerful legs. The horse's head was bony, with wide nostrils that lent it a fierce aspect but, Valandil noted, would make the horse breathe easier in times of great exertion. Physically, the horse was quite fine, but in its wildness and the indignant, angered noises it made as it was led towards him, Valandil could see that Illyrio was using him as an excuse to get rid of this animal.

"My apologies Ser, but the Magister told me to give you this one" said the stable boy with an apologetic look.

"What is his name?" Valandil asked.

"We call him Velo" the boy replied.

Valandil walked towards Velo, talking the reins from the boy and gently pulling Velo's head down so that he could stroke the animal's nose, and he spoke to the horse with soft words in the Elven tongue, and gradually Velo was calmed, and lowered his head. It was clear there was no great affection from the horse for the men around him, but he did not shy nor fuss when Valandil took the saddle from the stable hand and placed it upon Velo and set to securing the harness and the girth, and placing the gear from his pack into the saddlebags.

"You know if you keep doing things like that, you're going to make hiding your heritage very hard" Jorah said.

"Too true, I shall have to restrain myself" Valandil laughed.

There was a great clatter of hooves on cobblestones as a conroi of riders came thundering up the road and through the gatehouse of the manse, stopping in the courtyard before the fountain. They were large people, with swarthy skin of a copper colour, and dark eyes to match their dark hair. Their chests were bare, exposing powerful muscles, deeply tanned by the sun, and none of them wore armour, instead only vests and breeches all of horsehair and leather. At the forefront of the group, upon a snorting reddish stallion, sat a large and powerfully built man, with long moustaches and a long braid of black hair that reached his thighs, decorated with small bells.

"That's Khal Drogo. They say he has is the most feared khal in the whole Dothraki Sea" Jorah said out of the side of his mouth, leaning towards Valandil.

"Why are they here now?" Valandil replied.

"To take the Targaryen girl to her wedding to the Khal. They believe that any important event in a man's life must take place beneath the open sky, so the wedding will most likely be outside of the city at the horde's encampment" said Jorah.

The doors of the mansion were opened once again, and Valandil glanced over his shoulder to see Illyrio coming down the steps, leading two others: A young man and woman, both with white-blond hair and the violet eyes of House Targaryen, dressed in fine clothes. They were led down the stairs towards the Dothraki, and Valandil could see the Khal's eyes fixed on the girl. She was delicate and petite, quite beautiful even in Valandil's estimation, but appeared timid, scared even.

"She's frightened" he whispered to Jorah

"Who can blame her?" the Andal replied.

More horses were brought out from Illyrio's stables, and the Magister and the two Targaryens mounted. At a nod from Illyrio, Jorah and Valandil swung up into the saddles of their horses, and fell into position behind the Targaryens.

"Your Grace, these are the bodyguards I promised you, to safeguard you and your sister until you sit upon your Throne again. This is Ser Jorah and his companion Strider" Illyrio said to the young man sitting on the horse next to him.

"You have my thanks Illyrio, and your loyalty will not be forgotten when I come into my throne, and neither shall yours Ser Jorah and Ser… Strider was it?" said the young man. 'This must be Viserys' thought Valandil.

"Just Strider shall suffice, Your Grace" Valandil said. Viserys looked at the Numenorean strangely, with furrowed eyebrows, and internally Valandil cursed his accent.

There was no time for further introductions though, as there was a word from the Khal, and his riders reined their horses around and set off at a canter again. Nudging Velo into movement, Valandil followed behind Illyrio and the Targaryens, and within moments the whole cavalcade had left the manse, turning east at the road and swiftly heading towards the plains outside of Pentos.

The Dothraki were savage. Valandil had heard tales of their almost animalistic brutality before, but nothing compared to the reality. As a boy, his father and older brothers had told him tales of the wicked men of the East that served in the legions of the Black Enemy, and though the Dothraki carried no sign or sigil of the Enemy, there was no doubt in Valandil's heart that they were similar to the Easterlings in spirit if not in mind.

Along the coast of the sea some miles from Pentos, beneath a brilliantly blue sky, tens of thousands of Dothraki had gathered for the marriage of their Khal to the pale young Targaryen girl. Valandil sat upon the raised platform that the Dothraki had erected for Drogo and his guests, sitting near to Jorah, beneath Drogo and Daenerys, the bloodriders and the other, more honoured guests. The thumping of the tribal drums resonated in Valandil's gut, and a cold bile rose in the back of his throat as he watched the "celebrations" below him.

Women gyrated and danced as if possessed by wights, and the men bent them over and took them as a stallion takes a mare, like animals. The air was rent with the moans of women and the shouts of men, with screams and shrieks and grunting. They copulated like beasts, with neither love nor care, out in the open, before thousands of eyes. Their sense of sin or shame appeared to be non-existent.

A sudden commotion amongst the dancing drew Valandil's attention. One of the Dothraki men had interrupted another by hauling him off the woman in the middle of their copulation and replacing him behind the woman. A wave of eagerness seemed to run through the crowd as they shifted closer to the scene. The insulted man, enraged at being interrupted in the moment, rose from the ground and struck a terrific blow to his opponent's face, knocking him back into the dust. With a savage snarl, the other man rose from the dirt and tackled his foe, smashing into his stomach with a shoulder which would have driven the air right out of him. Entangled, the two men fell to the dirt onto a cooking fire, hot coals hissing as they burnt bare skin and the two combatants rolled from the flames. The excitement in the crowd became palpable as the two Dothraki rose to their feet, and one of them smashed his fist down onto the jaw of the other, knocking him down to his knees. Roaring a bestial warcry, the man swept out his Dothraki scimitar and swung it upwards for his enemy's belly. Valandil shifted forward in his chair, but felt a strong grip on his forearm.

"No," whispered Jorah from his own seat beside Valandil.

Both men had now unsheathed their swords, the wickedly curved blades glimmering as they turned and slashed in the air, each man seeking a quick killing blow. Unburdened by any armour, the lean Dothraki leapt and bound, circling each other like fairground acrobats, each movement swift and deadly. The razor edges of their scimitars glinted in the bright sun, as savage battlecries erupted from the throats of the two combatants. Valandil glanced upwards to the Khal, but saw only an eager glint in Drogo's eyes as the great Dothraki warlord sat forward in his seat, watching the fight intently. Biting back his desire to speak, Valandil turned his eyes back to the two fighting men.

One of the Dothraki brought a vicious two-handed slash down from a high guard towards his opponent, but the other man swiftly moved back, the scimitar whooshing in air as it passed him. Quickly, the miss was turned around and the edge came hurting back up, but again the fleet enemy avoided it. Valandil's breath caught in his throat, the Dothraki man had over-extended himself from the upward cut, and his enemy saw it just as Valandil did. Seizing his chance, the scimitar did its butcher's work as it came slashing straight into the other man's stomach. With a great cry, the victor dragged the edge of his sword out across his stricken foe's belly, spilling coils of bloody, pink-purplish intestines onto the dusty ground. Seizing his fallen foe's braid, the victor cut it off with a flourish of scimitar, and then tossed it to the foot of the dais where Khal Drogo and Daenerys sat. The loser was still twitching and convulsing on the ground as the other man seized another Dothraki woman.

"Savage beasts," Valandil muttered as Jorah released his grip.

"It is the Dothraki custom. They consider a wedding without three or four deaths to be a boring affair," Jorah replied.

"But why?"

Jorah could offer only a shrug: "It is their way".

Valandil carefully watched as the constant stream of dignitaries from magisters and nobles in Pentos and the other Free Cities made their way before the Khal and Daenerys atop the dais, each offering a different wedding gift. The couple were offered large chests of gold and silver, bridles and saddles richly embroidered and decorated with precious stones, ceremonial armour and robes inlaid with gold, decorated pottery, one magister even brought a whole box of snakes which hissed fiercely yet did not bite him as he handled them before the eyes of Khal Drogo.

"Come on, it's our turn" Jorah said, collecting a stack of leatherbound books from where they sat beside him.

Swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, Valandil stood together with Jorah, and under the watchful eyes of the Khal's bloodriders, they walked to the front of the platform, and in unison the two of them bowed their heads respectfully. Valandil could feel the steady gaze of Drogo boring into him. Valandil cursed the fact that he was easily a foot taller than everyone else present at the wedding, including Drogo himself, and the Khal was a powerfully built man. Raising his head once again, Valandil met the Khal's gaze, and found Drogo giving him a look that was not quite suspicion, but more than average curiosity either.

Jorah and Drogo exchanged a few words in the Dothraki tongue, the only ones of which Valandil understood were "Jorah" and "Andal". Then Jorah began to step forward, up across the platform, and Valandil followed a few steps behind.

"A small gift for the new Khaleesi" Jorah said earnestly, as he bowed his head again and offered the stack of books to the Targaryen girl. Tentatively, she reached out with tiny, pale hands and took them.

"Songs and histories from the Eight Kingdoms, even a few from the Dunedain Realm," Jorah explained as she took them.

"Thank you ser" Daenerys said, her voice quiet and soft amongst the loud revelry of the wedding party. "Are you two from my country?"

"Ser Jorah Mormont of Bear Island. I served your father for many years, Gods be good, I hope to always serve the rightful King," Jorah said, as he looked towards Viserys and nodded.

"And you, ser?" Daenerys said to Valandil.

"Strider, my lady, of the North," Valandil replied with a bow.

"Thank you as well Ser Strider," said the Targaryen girl with a shy smile. Valandil felt Jorah tap him on the shoulder, their time was up. Bowing once again, the two men backed up, down the dais, to their own seats. No sooner than they had sat down, Valandil saw Illyrio was already up, gesturing for his servants to bring up a large, heavy, locked wooden chest. Two burly, bare chested men carried the chest, and they set it down before Daenerys, who looked at it curiously. At a nod from the Magister, the servants opened it up, and Valandil was grateful for his great height which gave him a clear view of the contents.

The chest was filled with fine, soft sand, and sitting upon the sand were three large, oval objects, one in a jet black, one a creamy-tan and the last a deep forest green. They were the shape of eggs, but not any egg Valandil had ever seen, for they were not smooth, but rather their shells were covered in lizard-like scales. Daenerys' eyes were wide with wonder as Valandil watched her gently pick up the green egg and hold it before her, examining it with an entranced fascination.

"Dragon's eggs, Daenerys" Illyrio explained with a smirk "From the Shadowlands beyond Asshai. The ages have turned them to stone, but they will always be beautiful"

At that moment, as Daenerys set the egg back down on its soft bed of sand, the Khal stood up. Immediately the drumming stopped, and the singing ceased, and the dancing and lovemaking below the dais stopped in place, and all was silence. For a moment, all Valandil could hear were the sounds of the sea, and waves crashing against the rocky shore. Then, stretching his neck, Drogo stepped down the dais and began to walk briskly and purposefully through the crowd, without even a glance backwards at his bride as she followed him more slowly, more hesitantly.

Jorah rose from his seat, and Valandil followed his lead as Daenerys passed them by. All the Dothraki were silent as they closed around Daenerys as she walked, thousands of eyes boring into her. A full head taller than anyone else, Valandil watched her from above the rest of the crowd as she followed her new husband. Her head was held high, yet there was an unmistakable sense of shyness and fear in her step. Her pale blonde hair stood out like an island of gold amongst the sea of brown and black Dothraki hair. With slow steps, she walked to where the crowd had parted, and Drogo stood waiting by his own gift: A tall, demure mare of the purest white, a magnificent animal with a shapely face and strong limbs, yet Valandil could tell by how quietly it stood that it was calm and kind in temperament and very well-trained. Nothing but the finest mount for a Dothraki khaleesi. Drogo stood silently, holding the reins of the mare, as Daenerys approached him. The great Khal appeared like a mountain of deeply tanned muscle before the petite girl in front of him, and he held out the reins towards her. Following Jorah, Valandil moved to the front of the gathered crowd.

"She's beautiful" Daenerys spoke at last, stroking the mare's nose. She turned to look over her shoulder at Valandil and Jorah.

"Ser Jorah, I don't know the word for 'thank you' in Dothraki,"

"There is no way to say 'thank you' in Dothraki" Jorah replied.

Drogo released the reins, and he seized Daenerys and lifted her up into the saddle with ease, as if she was just a child. One of his bloodriders brought up Drogo's own horse, and the Khal swung up into the saddle with the practiced ease of a man who had spent most of his life on horseback. Valandil observed the Khal: He was unrefined, but skilled, lacking the formal grace of a Westerosi or Dunedain horseman, but clearly in absolute control of both himself and his horse.

Out of the corner of his eye, Valandil noticed Viserys approach Daenerys. She looked down at her brother.

"Make him… Happy" Viserys said with a small smirk. Drogo set the spurs to his horse, and first at a walk, then a trot, then gathering into a canter, the newly married Khal and Khaleesi rode away towards the sun as it sunk towards the horizon.

"'Make him happy'" Valandil spat, not for the first time, as he sat near a crackling fire in the Dothraki camp. Across from him sat Jorah, sipping from a wineskin. He had changed out of his formal tunic into more comfortable travelling clothes, and Magister Illyrio had been good enough to have their belongings taken from their inn in Pentos out to the Dothraki encampment. Jorah shook his head as Valandil fumed.

"Try to look at it from his perspective Dúnadan, Viserys believes he is the Blood of the Dragon, the rightful King of Westeros, and his only tool to help him reclaim his throne is his name and his sister. The Targaryen name doesn't go very far these days, so he must use his sister. Unfortunate though that is, she seems a sweet girl," Jorah said.

"She can't be much older than eighteen or nineteen years. For her own flesh and blood to use her in such a way. I hope the rule of this Viserys shall be worth it. I pray he is a rightful king in action rather than just the rightful king in word and law." Valandil replied with a shake of his own head, and then accepted the wineskin from Jorah and took a long drink. He looked all around him. The encampment of Drogo's horde stretched in all directions for as far as even his Numenorean eyes could see.

"I hear it is the largest khalasar in the whole Dothraki Sea. Forty thousand warriors or more, and many thousands of women, children and slaves" Jorah explained, noticing Valandil's look.

"Do you think it shall follow the Targaryen boy across the Narrow Sea?" asked Valandil. Jorah shrugged as he took the wineskin back from his Numenorean companion.

"Depends. Depends on when Dothraki omens favour war, and how patient Viserys is. He has given the Khal a great gift with Daenerys, and he shall get a gift in return in the Khal's good time. If he understands that, and waits, then yes, eventually they will cross… The first Dothraki khalasar in history to cross the sea" answered Ser Jorah. Valandil grimaced; he had heard many tales of the Dothraki ferocity in battle and their skill on horseback with whip, sword and bow. Yet they seemed to him to be raiders, not conquerors.

"And do you think it will be enough against Tar-Robert?" he said.

"No," Jorah replied immediately "Against a canny old warrior like Robert Baratheon, with all of Westeros including your people on his side, no it won't be enough. The Targaryens need to build up alliances in Westeros to reclaim the throne. This union with the Dothraki is a start, but it is not enough by itself. Do you think this boy will be equal to the task?" Now it was Valandil's turn to shrug.

"We shall see" There was a long moment of comfortable silence as the two sellswords sat in thought, the fire crackling merrily. In the gloom outside of their little circle of light, they could see the shapes of many Dothraki moving about the camp, the night fast growing darker and darker, while a pale half-moon rose in the sky above them, accompanied by many bright, shining stars.

"How do you know so much about the Dothraki Jorah?" Valandil asked at last.

"I've been in this sellsword's business for a lot longer than you my friend, I've been to a lot of places amongst many people before I met you in Braavos, and I have spent time with the Dothraki before, sometimes as their enemy, sometimes as their prisoner, other times as their friend," Jorah said with a smile. "How did a Dúnadan get into the life of a sellsword anyways? Your people are a rarity east of the Narrow Sea"

"I came east to travel, to see the world, I confess I had a thirst for adventure, and I needed a way to make a living while I traveled and the life of a sellsword offered me that and a way to whet my wanderlust… Though, truth be told Jorah, I do not relish the killing, but one does what one can with the gifts you are given" replied Valandil, staring hard into the fire.

"To be as good with bow and blade as you are, and yet take no pleasure in it, is the mark of a true warrior my friend," Jorah said with a nod towards the Numenorean. Valandil could only give a rueful chuckle.

"And yet Tar-Robert, a man who by all the stories loves to fight and kill, sits on the Iron Throne and I sit here in the muck of a Dothraki camp with an old man from Bear Island" he said with a grin.

"Old man? I think you're the old man here! I may be old, but I know a thing or two about these Dothraki that you don't, and I might just able to keep you alive" Jorah shot back with a good natured laugh.

"Actually Jorah, I was hoping that you could teach me the Dothraki language, and their ways while we travel with them. They are a savage people, but I need to understand them if I am to protect the Targaryens amongst them" Valandil asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Of course my friend, if you are willing to learn from an old man from Bear Island" Jorah laughed.

"Your first lesson" he continued "Is that you will have to find a better moniker than 'Strider'"

"Why? It suits me rather admirably" Valandil said, stretching out his long legs to warm his feet by the fire.

"That may be true, but amongst the khalasar, only the slaves walk. You never told me your true name Strider, and I never asked, it is your own business what name you travel under, but 'Strider' is not a wise name to use if you want the respect of the Dothraki," Jorah explained. Valandil mused over this, and sat a while in thought, staring into the fire, his grey eyes reflecting the flickering tongues of flame. He reached up on his chest and removed a small silver brooch which had fastened his cloak around his shoulders, holding it in his hands as he examined it. It was small, but finely wrought in silver, made in the shape of an eagle, wings outstretched, with an eight-rayed star engraved on the eagle's chest. He handled with his fingers for a while, his face deep in thought, and then looked up at Jorah.

"Dúnadan will suffice," he said at last, replacing the brooch on his cloak "But if you think a different name is necessary, then call me Thorongil"

"Thorongil it is" Jorah agreed "But between you and I, I liked Strider better" . Valandil smiled and laughed.

His smile died immediately as they heard a woman's screams, distant but not far off, shrill and full of terror. Valandil sprang to his feet, his hand closed around the hilt of his sword, every sense in his body on alert. For a long moment all was silence except for the sounds of the khalasar, the crackling of fires, and laughter and sounds of Dothraki speech. It seemed they had little care for the sounds of a woman's screaming. Then the scream came again, louder, more fearful.

"Thorongil…" Jorah said in a steady, calm tone of voice, but Valandil did not heed him, for he was already off, long legs striding purposefully as he headed swiftly towards the direction of the screams. Valandil shouldered his way past many Dothraki, an easy task with his size, and headed towards the eastern edge of the encampment. The screams grew in intensity and duration, before suddenly cutting off. Valandil felt a cold sweat rise on the back of his neck, and he increased to a jog. There were innumerable Dothraki tents and yurts, some larger, some smaller, but they all appeared identical to Valandil's eyes, and the Dothraki did not seem to make camp with any kind of order or organization.

Now running, Valandil listened for any more screams, but they seem to have stopped, and finally he reached the eastern edge of the camp. Before him stretched a wide expanse of hilly plains covered in long grass, devoid of any building or person, lit only by the pale moonlight. Valandil stood there, heart pounding in his chest, and felt despair. Then, suddenly, one more scream came from away to his left, much closer now than any of the ones he had before, and he tore off towards it.

The sounds were coming from behind one of the larger of the tents, on the edge of the camp. Moving softly and silently up to the wall of the tent, Valandil silently crept up around it, one hand on the hilt of his sword. From behind the tent, he could hear the sounds of struggling, labored breathing, and the harsh laughter of several men. Finally, he came around to the back of the tent.

Before him were four men, Dothraki warriors by their long braids, three standing with cruel smiles on their faces, the four on the ground. Beneath the fourth one, Valandil could see the struggling legs of a young woman. With one hand, the Dothraki man was holding both of the girl's wrists against the ground, above her head, while with the other he was fumbling with his riding breeches. His braid was long, coming down to halfway down his back.

Valandil watched for only a split second before he decided what he must do. Covering the distance between himself and the Dothraki in four swift strides, he seized the Dothraki on top of the woman by his braid with both hands and hauled him off, sweeping his legs out from under him as he pulled. The man cried out in shock at the sudden surprise and pain, landing heavily on his back, and Valandil kicked him hard in the ribs as he lay there.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in the side of his head as he felt the fist of another Dothraki punch him in the side of the jaw. He staggered back a few steps and looked up to find himself facing the second of the rapists. Cranking his arm back, Valandil punched him straight and hard, knocking the man backwards a few paces. With wrath in his eyes, the Dothraki looked up at Valandil, blood seeping from his nose, and he charged forward, leading with his shoulder. He was aiming for a tackle, but Valandil seized the man's forearms in a strong wrestler's grip, receiving the impact on his chest and stepping back to avoid losing his footing. He could tell that this Dothraki was an experienced wrestler, as he slipped from Valandil's grip and went for his leading leg with both arms. Shifting and turning his whole body to the side, Valandil used his leading leg and hooked it around the Dothraki's rear leg, at the same time he seized his enemy behind the neck, and using his leg and arm together, gave a great hooking throw which sent the Dothraki sprawling to the ground hard. Immediately Valandil was above him, hammering down into his face with hard punches.

Glancing over his shoulder, Valandil spotted one of the Dothraki seizing his scimitar from where he had left it by the side of the tent. Scrambling, he hauled out his own sword as the Dothraki came charging at him, scimitar raised. Throwing up a guard, Valandil blocked the opening blow and felt shockwaves of force travel through his blade and into his hands and arms. The Dothraki didn't hesitate, following his first stroke with more and more quick, vicious, slashing blows, the speed and ferocity of his assault forcing Valandil to back up, avoiding several of the slashes, and blocking the ones he couldn't with the flat of his blade. Locking their blades together in a bind, Valandil pushed the Dothraki back hard, moving his enemy back several feet, and then he dropped his sword into a low guard, the hilt down near his waist. The Dothraki was breathing hard, but he wasted no time and charged again, striking for the left side of Valandil's body. Raising his guard, Valandil took the blow and stepped forward, pushing the scimitar up as he did. He released one of his hands from his hilt and wrapped his free arm around the hilt and hands of the Dothraki, holding the scimitar in a viselike grip under his arm, with he cocked his sword arm back, pommel forward. For a moment the Dothraki struggled but could not free his sword, and then he looked at Valandil, their faces close together, and drove his head forward into Valandil's nose. His head was knocked back, a sharp pain in his nose from the blow, but he did not release the Dothraki's arms. Gritting his teeth, Valandil smashed the hard pommel of his sword down into the Dothraki face. Once, twice, three times he hammered his foe, until he felt the man go limp, and finally he released him, the body slumping onto the ground, unconscious.

Valandil stood, panting heavily, looking around him. One of the Dothraki was doubled up around his ribs, another lay on the ground, hands on his face, blood seeping between his fingers, the last one slumped at Valandil's feet. The girl they had been attacking lay before him, looking up at him with wide, terrified eyes, dress torn and shoulders bare, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily.

'Where's the fourth one?' Valandil thought coldly. He felt his heart skip a beat as he heard the sound of a bow being drawn behind him. His heart pounded in his chest as he closed his eyes and waited for the shot, but it did not come. Then he heard the sound of steel sliding against leather, and Jorah's voice speaking in Dothraki. Slowly, Valandil turned around to see Jorah Mormont standing next to the Dothraki man, sword in hand, the edge of his sword held against the man's throat.

"See to the girl, this one isn't going anywhere" Jorah said, tapping his sword against the Dothraki warrior's chin.

"Are you hurt?" Valandil said gently, sheathing his sword as he approached the girl.

"N-n-no my lord," she said quickly, scrambling to her feet. Before he could say another word, the girl pushed past him, ran past Jorah, and was gone.

"What do we do with him?" Jorah said, tapping the Dothraki with his sword again.

"Let him go. Tell him that if he knows what is best for him, he will never do this again," Valandil said, glaring hard at the Dothraki. Jorah said a few words in their tongue, pushing the razor edge of his blade hard against the man's throat to make his point clear. The man nodded quickly, and then left in a great hurry, leaving his three companions still lying on the ground.

Jorah sighed and sheathed his sword. He walked over to Valandil and looked around at the three dispatched Dothraki.

"A noble thing you did for that girl, Thorongil" Jorah said.

"It was the only thing to do" Valandil replied.

"Come on, I think it's time to retire. The khalasar breaks camp earlier, you'll need your rest" Jorah answered, clapping Valandil on the shoulder as the two turned and walked back into the camp.

Dawn came early, golden light streaming over the eastern hills, and the clear skies promised a fine day. Valandil rose before most of the khalasar and watched the sunrise, already fully dressed with his grey Dunedain cloaked wrapped around him against the morning chill. His pipe was in his hand, a wreath of smoke around his head as he puffed on it pensively. Behind him stood Velo, his bridle tied to a stake on the ground, snorting impatiently and pawing at the ground, already fully loaded to travel with all of Valandil's belongings, including his most precious: His steelbow.

"Good morning, a fine day it looks to be" Valandil heard Jorah say behind him, followed by a yawn.

"Care for a little galenas? I have a spare pipe in my pack you could use," offered Valandil.

"Thank you, but no. Curious habit of your people, smoking," Jorah replied with a smile, now standing beside his friend. Valandil could see that he too was dressed, and he was standing next to his horse, fully packed.

"My people? It was the Andals who first put galenas in a pipe to smoke and called it 'westmanweed'. We only grew it for its sweet scent before we came to Westeros" Valandil said, smiling with his pipe still in his mouth before blowing out a ring of smoke.

"Truly? I suppose you would know, a Dúnadan never forgets" Jorah replied.

The whole vast encampment was broken down remarkably quickly for how chaotic the Dothraki seemed. Tents and huts were broken down and packed away, fires extinguished, food packed in saddlebags, carts provided for the old, the young and the sickly, and women with children. Finally, when all was packed, the whole khalasar, tens of thousands of warriors, women, children and slaves, assembled into a vast column. The carts were brought to the centre of the column, where they would be the most protected on the march. Behind and in front of the carts were vast long columns of mounted warriors, and walking slaves carrying the khalasar's burdens, with more riders deployed to screen the flanks and to scout in front of the column.

Valandil found himself near the front of the column, behind the Targaryens and Jorah, with the Khal and his bloodriders at the very front. Drogo shouted a few words in the Dothraki tongue, and then the entire vast horde of Dothraki began to move. Valandil reined his horse around, and took one last look at the sea, across which was his home and his family. Then he set the spurs to Velo and followed the horde, riding away into the east.


	3. Chapter III

**Author's Note: I had to edit out a few typos caused by transferring my Word document onto . Sincere apologies for this fake alert, I kind of messed up the process and had to re-add the chapter. Ha  
**

**Chapter III**

**Winterfell**

From the roof of a tall tower of Winterfell, the young Bran Stark watched the horizon. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and on the distant green moorlands Bran could see the winding line of the Kingsroad. Then, far in the distance, moving shapes appeared, still blurry and unclear. They drew closer, and as Bran narrowed his eyes he could make them out; mounted men, horse drawn carriages and great wains, and many fluttering banners. As the column drew closer, his young eyes made out the sigil that flew upon the foremost standards: The black crowned stag upon the yellow field of House Baratheon. The shapes became men as the company approached Winterfell, proceeding at a brisk trot along the Kingsroad that wound like a snake across the rocky moorlands that surrounded the castle. Behind the royal banner came a strong cavalry of armed men on horseback, then the carriages and wains surrounded by the men-at-arms on foot.

The boy's face lit up with excitement, and he straightened up from his spot behind a merlon of the parapet. Turning around, he ran nimbly across the roof, balancing perfectly, before dropping off the opposite edge and hanging by his fingertips. Bran deftly lowered himself from his perch to another jutting rock of the tower's walls, and then down by the sill of an arrow slit, using his feet and hands equally to support himself. He dropped down onto the battlements of the curtain wall, and hopped from merlon to merlon before jumping down onto the walkway of the wall. Running to the next tower, he jumped off and hung from the edge, his foot reaching down for the stone he knew was there to support him. From protruding stone to stone of the tower's wall, Bran climbed down towards the thatched roof of the stables.

"Brandon!" cried a stern voice he knew only too well. Bran glanced over his shoulder to see his mother, standing with the robed Maester Luwin behind her, and his direwolf sitting on the ground staring at him.

"I saw the King! He's got hundreds of people!" Bran said as he climbed further down.

"How many times do I have to tell you? No climbing!" Catelyn Stark scolded her son.

"But he's coming right now, down our road!" Bran exclaimed, and he scurried across the roof and dropped down to climb from a wooden beam to the ground. As he landed agilely on the ground, he turned around to find his mother leaning towards him, looking stern.

"I want you to promise me: No more climbing!" she said. The young Stark looked at his feet.

"I promise," he said at last.

"Do you know what?" Cat said as she straightened up.

"What?" Bran asked.

"You always look at your feet before you lie," answered Cat. Bran was unable to contain a smile.

"Now go, run to your father, and tell him the King is close," she ordered. Bran nodded and ran off towards the keep, the direwolf pup following close behind.

The great column of the King's procession rode up the central road of the winter town that led to the castle of Winterfell itself. Everywhere one looked there was movement and colour as the King's retainers and his court arrived, everywhere there was the pageantry and splendour of a royal entry. All the smallfolk of Winterfell had turned out, lining the sides of the road as the company rode up to the eastern gate of Winterfell.

The column was led by the Baratheon knights and bannermen in the yellow of their King's house, the royal stag sigil emblazoned on the pennants which fluttered in the northern breeze. Amongst them were the Kingsguard themselves in their distinctive white cloaks and elaborate white enamelled scale armour. There were whispers amongst the smallfolk as they saw the dozens upon dozens of Lannister soldiers that rode alongside the Baratheon men-at-arms and the Kingsguard, and that the Lannister lion flew alongside the royal stag on the flags and pennants of the King's retinue. The whispers disappeared as they saw the colours of a third house amongst the company, and there was an awed silence broken only by the sounds of shod hooves on cobblestones as the smallfolk watched fifty Numenorean knights ride past.

They were tall, and prouder than any of the others in the King's company, for they seemed more akin to noble lords than to knights. The Dunedain wore long hauberks of black steel rings, with black surcoats upon their chests with the silver tree and seven silver stars that stood for the Dunedain Realm. Each man wore a tall helm that glimmered in the sun, and the close-fitting cheek guards were wrought to resemble the wings of seabirds, and the crests of their helms too were decorated with wings. They bore at the head of their column a long banner, black as the night, and upon it was the tree and stars, but above the tree and the stars was a silver crescent moon sigil. At the head of the Numenorean knights, beneath their banner, rode a man taller than the rest, and greater in bearing than all of his kin.

In the courtyard of Winterfell, Lord Eddard Stark stood and waited for his King's arrival. Beside him stood his family, and all around him all the servants and retainers of Winterfell stood, waiting to greet their King. Soldiers and stable boys, blacksmiths, fletchers, carpenters, cooks, pages, squires, all stood together, close packed around their lord, as the portcullis opened with a great creak to admit the King's company.

The mounted Baratheon bannermen were first to enter, proudly wearing the yellow and black colours of their King's house and their distinctive helms with stag antlers wrought of bronze affixed upon them. Upon snorting mounts they trotted into the courtyard, and then as one dismounted and led their horses to the side and fell into formation next to the gate. Behind them came the Lannister men and some of the Kingsguard. Amongst the Lannister men-at-arms was a youthful boy, fair of hair and complexion, dressed in the finest of clothes, and handsome but with a grin that was more smirk than smile. Behind the golden-haired boy rode a towering man in dark armour, his helmet shaped like the head of a snarling dog, a massive sword slung across his back. A carriage followed the Lannister bannermen into the courtyard, its sides covered with images of lions and stags.

"Where's the imp?" Eddard heard the voice of his younger daughter, Arya, say.

"Would you please shut up?" Sansa, the older daughter, answered.

Finally, last of all and surrounded by his Kingsguard, came the man himself: King Robert Baratheon, First of His Name.

'Gods, is that really him?' Eddard thought immediately. Robert was hardly recognizable to him, having gained a massive paunch and a thick black beard. As the King entered, Eddard dropped to his knee, and the entire courtyard of people dropped to kneel before their King in unison. Eddard glanced up from his kneeling position to see that Robert could not even dismount his horse by himself, as one of Winterfell's grooms ran a mounting block up to the King's side to help him off his horse.

Robert strode across the wide space of the courtyard, a hand set on the pommel of the sword that hung at his side, his cloak flaring out behind him making the King appear even larger than he already was. Wordlessly, he stopped before the kneeling Ned. He flicked his fingers upwards, and Eddard stood up, his family and all the people of Winterfell standing with him. There was a long moment of silence as King Robert Baratheon looked at Lord Eddard Stark.

"You got fat," he said at last. Ned couldn't help the incredulous look on his face as he looked down at the King's gut, and then back up at him as if to say 'I got fat!'. Immediately Robert broke out into peals of laughter, and the two old friends embraced warmly as they laughed.

"Cat!" Robert said as he turned to Ned's wife and hugged her in turn.

"Your Grace," Catelyn replied with a smile. The King ruffled the hair of young Rickon Stark, and then turned back to Ned.

"Nine years. Why haven't I seen you? Where the hell have you been?" Robert demanded with a good-natured grin.

"Guarding the North for you, Your Grace, Winterfell is yours" Ned replied.

"It's good to see you again Ned, we have much to discuss with you," Robert said.

"We?" answered Ned. He had never known Robert to use the royal 'we'. As he spoke, there was another clatter of shod hooves on cobblestones. Looking over Robert's shoulder, Ned saw a cavalcade of tall men in black surcoats upon tall horses ride into the courtyard, reining their mounts in to bring them to a disciplined stop, forming a solid block of armoured men on horseback in the centre of the courtyard. The leader, tallest of them all, dismounted swiftly and tore off his tall, winged helmet to expose a head of dark hair, and fair, familiar features.

"Isildur!" exclaimed Ned.

"Eddard! Been too long!" Isildur said with a wide smile as he strode over to the Lord of the North and the two threw their arms around each other. When they released each other, still wearing the grins of old friends who had been long separated, Ned saw the Queen standing quietly behind the tall Numenorean lord, an unreadable expression on her face. Coldly, she extended a hand towards Ned.

"My Queen," Ned said, and kissed her hand.

"My Queen," Cat echoed with a curtsy.

"Ned, where's your crypt? I wish to pay my respects," Robert said. Ned was opening his mouth to answer when Cersei interrupted.

"You've been riding for a month, my love, surely the dead can wait?" she said.

"Ned, Isildur," King Robert said, ignoring his wife's protest. Exchanging glances, Eddard and Isildur followed their king away from the courtyard and down into the cool, damp corridors of Winterfell.

Beneath the Keep was the Crypts of Winterfell, a long, chill room lined by paired pillars and the sepulchres of all the Starks going back to the ancient Kings of the North. Between the pairs of pillars sat graven images of Stark lords in stone, iron swords in hand and snarling direwolves at their feet. Robert, Ned and Isildur walked in silence down the halls of the crypt, no noise save for the sounds of their boots against the stone floors. 'They bury their dead much in the same fashion as us' thought Isildur. The oppressive silence and stillness of the ancient halls of dead kings and lords seemed to steal the joy from their hearts.

"Tell me about Jon Arryn," Ned broke the silence at last.

"One minute he was fine, the next… Burned right through him, whatever it was. I loved that man," Robert answered, his tone bleak.

"We all did," Isildur answered.

"He never had to teach Ned anything, but do you remember me as a young man? All I wanted to do was crack skulls and fuck girls, he told me what was what," Robert said with a rueful chuckle. Isildur and Eddard shot incredulous looks at their King.

"Don't look at me like that; it's not my fault I didn't listen," Robert said. Suddenly, he stopped and turned towards Ned.

"Listen Ned, I'm not the kind to beat around the bush, so I'm going to say this straight: I need you. The Kingdom needs you, down at King's Landing, not up here where you're no damn use to anyone. Lord Eddard Stark, I would name you Marshal of the King's Hosts," he said, his tone becoming very serious. With a confused look, Ned dropped his knee again.

"I am not worthy of the honour, Your Grace," Ned replied. Isildur looked at Robert, and the jolly gleam in the King's eyes had returned.

"I'm not trying to honour you, I'm trying to get you to build me an army while Isildur runs my Kingdom and I eat, drink and fuck to my heart's content. Hells, Ned, stand up," the fat King answered, tapping Eddard on the shoulder.

"The King's Host?" Ned said in an interrogating voice as he rose.

"Aye, the King's Host, Ned. A new army, not for any lord or rich man, but for the whole Realm, to defend all and protect all of the Kingdoms, not just serve one lord, and you will be the Marshal of my Host, to train it and lead it for me," Robert explained while the three of them resumed their walk down the crypt.

"My own son Aratan has come with me to help you build this host Ned, and he has brought with him Dunedain sergeants-at-arms to train your recruits," Isildur added.

"I am honoured Your Grace, and thank you Lord Isildur, but who exactly are you planning on using this Host on?" Ned asked pressingly. A dark look passed across Robert's face and he turned away from Ned. They had come at last to their destination, Robert stood with his back to his two friends, staring at the statue that he had come down there to see. From a pouch upon his belt, he drew forth a long feather, and placed it gently, almost lovingly in the outstretched stone hand.

"Some in the Kingdoms still call Robert 'Usurper'… And there are those across the Narrow Sea…" Isildur said, Robert still silent. Ned's eyes widened, and he looked from Isildur to Robert and then back again.

"By the Gods, you would build an army out of fear? Fear of what?" Ned asked, his eyes gleaming in the torchlight beneath furrowed brows.

"The Host shall preserve the King's Peace… I will not be remembered as the drunken Usurper, I will be remembered as the man who defended the Realm," Robert said, still turned away from his friends.

"From what, Robert? From what? Or is it from who?" Ned pressed, his voice hard. There was another long moment of oppressive silence.

"Did you have to bury her in a place like this?" Robert spoke at last. Ned seemed taken aback.

"She was his sister," Isildur said.

"She belongs here," Eddard replied.

"She belonged with me," Robert spoke again, his voice now hard and full of anger. Again the silence fell upon them.

"In my dreams I kill him every night. Sometimes I crush his breastplate with the hammer, sometimes I run him through, sometimes I kill him with my bare hands, choking the life out of him or drowning him in that blood-filled river," said Robert, his shoulders hunched beneath his cloak and his head hanging.

"You do not need a King's Host, Your Grace, the Targaryens are gone," Ned replied.

"Not all of them. Not yet," the King replied.

The sun was sinking low in the sky when Isildur found Ned on the battlements of the western wall, above the godswood. His northern friend was leaning against the parapet, looking out as the sun set, a brilliant display of red and yellow light like a great funeral pyre, lighting up the woods and moorlands surrounding Winterfell with gold. Isildur could see, even as he came up the stairs to the battlement, that his friend was deep in thought.

"You ought to be in the great hall, our feast will be starting soon, and you're a guest of honour" Eddard said. Isildur smiled at him as he came to stand beside him, leaning back against the parapet.

"I thought that my old friend would need my counsel more than his family needs my company right now" replied Isildur. Eddard was silent, the light of the sunset falling upon his drawn, pensive face.

"The Iron Throne has changed him…" said Ned finally.

"It changes people. Such is the nature of kingship" answered Isildur. Eddard only shook his head.

"Why does he want to build an army now? What's got him frightened?" he mused. Isildur could only shrug.

"He took the Throne by rebellion, perhaps he wants to avoid his dynasty suffering the same fate as the Targaryens, perhaps he wishes to give the Realm a stronger defense against foreign invasion, perhaps he wishes to reduce the power of the nobles and stop the squabbling and backstabbing that has plagued this kingdom. I can see much in the minds and hearts of men, but I leave Robert's thoughts to himself. You'll have to take this up with him. You should be proud Ned, it is a great honour to be appointed the first Marshal" said Isildur.

"Aye, it is that. I must congratulate you Isildur, on your appointment as Hand. Robert couldn't have made a better choice" replied Ned, with a smile and a lighter tone in his voice. Isildur returned the smile as he turned around and looked out on the countryside around Winterfell. The sun was sinking lower in the sky, a brilliant ball of red flame. Out in the distance, Isildur could see a few farmers working in a field of golden wheat next to a small thatched-roof cottage, with a thin plume of smoke rising merrily from its chimney. Birds sang their evening songs, and somewhere a dog was barking. Behind them, Isildur heard the growing sounds of the feast beginning in the hall.

"I do love these long northern evenings. We never had sunsets like these where I come from," Isildur said with a sigh.

"You ever miss it?" Ned asked. Isildur was silent, very silent, as he stood with closed eyes, and Ned looked up at his friend and saw only an unreadable face.

"Yes… Every day. But I have a new home now" Isildur said with a weak smile

"Aye, you are of the North as much as I am. And I will miss it when I'm down there in that rat's nest they call a capital" said Ned.

"You're the lucky one Eddard; you'll get to spend most of your time in the field, training your recruits. I'm the one who will have to deal with matters of the Realm," chuckled Isildur.

"I daresay you'll hate it as much as Robert does," Ned replied. "But you'll do it well. You do everything well"

"Well that's not entirely true my friend" Isildur smirked "My brother tells me my calligraphy is horrible. I'm not much of a poet. And you know I can't dance worth a shit"

"Worst thing about the rebellion ending: I'll never get to see you dance like that again!" Ned laughed.

"If the Valar are merciful" Isildur chuckled.

"Come on Isildur; let's go drink the King's health and forget our worries for a while." Ned said with a broad smile.

The two of them turned away from the battlement and walked down the steps. The western wall stood above the godswood, and Ned led Isildur along a beaten dirt path that ran towards the inner courtyard. The godswood lay in a tranquil silence as the light and darkness mixed in the twilight, the only sound was a subdued twittering of a few birds and the rustling of the wind in the leaves. Isildur had always loved the godswoods of the northmen, for trees and growing things had always been close to his heart, and though none of the weirwoods or Westerosi trees could equal, in his eyes, Nimloth the Fair or the White Tree that grew in Annuminas, the trees of the godswood were still beautiful.

The path turned towards the southern side of Winterfell, and they exited the godswood through a small wooden gate near to the Hunter's Gate along the western wall of Winterfell, and proceeded to wide main courtyard of Winterfell. The windows of the great hall were lit from within by firelight; there was the sound of many merry voices, of much laughter, the singing of songs and much good cheer. Isildur smiled as the great oaken door of the great hall were opened before him, and a wave of heat hit his face.

Before them, eight long rows of trestle tables stretched, four to either side of the central aisle, at which sat hundreds of people. Upon each table were plates heaped with mutton, roast pork, beef, goose, fish, vegetables, dried fruits, fresh loaves of bread, and whole wheels of cheese. Ale, mead and wine flowed in each person's goblet. Merry tunes were being played by troupes of musicians with tabor, pipe and lute, and many voices joined them in merry songs. The whole hall was candlelit, and great roaring fires poured heat from the hearths. Isildur smiled as he saw his own men seated amongst the northmen, smiling and talking amongst them, and his son Aratan and squire Ohtar seated next to Rodrick Cassel, laughing heartily at some joke or remark of his.

Isildur was seated at the high table alongside the Royal Family and the Starks, and they ate and talked about many things, and sung many songs late into the night. The food was very good, and the wine was even better. As the evening wore on however, Isildur noticed something: Jon was not seated amongst them. He looked down either side of the high table, and up and down the rest of the hall, and could not see him.

"Where is Jon?" Isildur said quietly, nudging Eddard beside him. Eddard subtly jerked his head towards Catelyn, and immediately Isildur understood. He spotted Eddard's brother Benjen, dressed all in the black of the Night's Watch, entering the hall, and Eddard got up to go greet him. Quietly, Isildur rose from the table and excused himself. As he walked out of the hall, he passed by King Robert, a buxom serving wench sitting on his lap, and Isildur glanced over his shoulder to see the Queen with a cold, dispassionate look on her face.

Outside in the courtyard, the night air was cool and crisp, the moon was shining and the sky was full of bright stars. Isildur breathed deeply of the cool air, and then looked across the yard. He heard the sounds of a blade ringing against wood, and he saw who he was looking for. Jon was standing by the training yard next to the armoury, across the courtyard from the great hall. He had a sword in hand, glimmering in the moonlight as he struck rapid winding blows against a man-shaped pell before him, and he was panting from the exertion.

"What are you doing out here Jon Stark?" Isildur called out as he crossed the courtyard. Jon stopped his practice and turned around slowly sword still in hand. His eyes widened as he spotted Isildur, and Jon bowed hastily.

"I'm sorry, my Lord Isildur, I did not see you," Jon said.

"Jon, you've known me since you were a boy, you can just call me 'Isildur'" Isildur laughed "Now tell me, why are you out here when the feast is indoors?" A grimace came across Jon's face.

"Lady Stark does not wish to insult the Royal Family by seating a bastard amongst them" he said bitterly.

"What? But you are of the House of Stark" Isildur replied.

"No, Lord Isildur, I'm not a Stark" Jon scoffed. At this, Isildur only gave Jon a hard look, ageless grey eyes meeting Jon's own.

"Jon, tell me, who is your father?" Isildur asked.

"Lord Eddard Stark" Jon answered

"Aye, and you live in Winterfell, the ancestral home of the Starks?" Isildur pressed.

"I do" Jon said uncertainly, not seeing the point of Isildur's questions.

"Aye, and you have been raised alongside Robb Stark and Brandon Stark and Rickon Stark, and Arya and Sansa too, and Eddard considers you his son. In my eyes, young Jon, you are as much a Stark as any of them"

"Thank you, Lord Isildur…" Jon said with a small smile.

"Now come on Jon Stark, you're coming inside. I'm a guest, and the Hand of the King, and you will be my guest." Isildur said with a merry laugh, clapping Jon on the back.

"Thank you milord, but no. I really must be practicing" Jon said bashfully, pointing at the pell with his sword.

"Practicing for what?" asked the tall Dunedain lord.

"I want to go north with my Uncle Benjen and join the Night's Watch" Jon said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Ah, there is much honour in serving on the Wall. You may meet my nephew Anardil at Castle Black, he departed from Minas Anor before I left Annúminas, heading for the Wall as you are" Isildur replied with a warm smile. "But you're still coming inside to join the feast. You don't have to sit at the high table if you don't want, but I'm the Hand of the King and I won't have my friend's son out here slicing up a pell when there is food, drink and song for him to partake in"

"Are you sure that won't offend the King? Or Lady Stark?" Jon replied uncertainly, scratching the back of his head.

"Trust me lad, the King won't notice, and tell Lady Stark that she can take it up with me if she feels offended" Isildur insisted. He took the sword from Jon's reluctant hands and hung it up on the rack.

Finally, Jon relented and nodded, and Isildur led him back into the great hall, still filled with the sounds of happy revelry, and he seated him beside Aratan, who welcomed the boy heartily and poured Jon a cup of ale. Isildur smiled as he patted Jon on the shoulder, and then started back towards the high table. However, even as he returned, he did not miss the glowering look that Catelyn shot him as he came to sit again.

The feast lasted much longer into the night, full of good food, good drink, and much laughter, and Isildur had his fill of all three. The night was full of music and song, Westerosi songs, different from his people's, but a welcome change. Many happy hours later, sometime after midnight, Isildur found sitting next to a small, warm, bright fire in one of the great hall's hearths, with all the Stark children gathered around him, young Rickon Stark almost dozing as he leaned against one of Isildur's great arms. The hall was empty except for them, the rest of the feasters having retired already. Catelyn walked towards them, hands on her hips, a warm smile on her face and all trace of her previous animosity gone as she looked upon her children.

"Come on children, time for bed" she said warmly.

"But I want to hear one of Uncle Isildur's stories!" Rickon protested, looking up at his mother with big, pleading eyes.

"Just one Mother, please" said Bran.

"Gods be good, it's like Robb is a child all over again" Cat said, rolling her eyes with a good natured smile.

"Mother, it's not my fault that Lord Isildur always brought the best tales whenever he visited" Robb laughed. Isildur looked around at all the Starks seated around him, smiling widely.

"I am so very fond of all you wonderful Starks, but Rickon, you know I'm not your real uncle right?" Isildur said, leaning down towards the young boy.

"But you feel like an uncle" Rickon said innocently. Isildur felt himself overcome with affection for all of his friends in the Stark family as he looked around at them.

"What story would you like to hear tonight?" he asked.

"The tale of Beren and Luthien! That's my favourite one" Sansa said immediately.

"No, that one's boring!" Arya protested "Tell us about Feanor and the Silmarils"

"No, I want to hear about Turin Turambar!" piped up Bran. Isildur could only laugh as the children bickered about the choice of story.

"I will tell you a tale that you have never heard before" he said mysteriously, firelight glinting in his grey eyes. At this, all the children quieted down, and Robb sat down from where he had been standing, shifting closer to Isildur as he did. Isildur looked around at all of them, and then up at Catelyn, who sighed happily and nodded her assent, and then Isildur began to speak, his voice deep and melodious.

"I will tell you the tale of Fingolfin, proudest and most valiant of the Elf-kings of the Elder Days. It is a fair and sad tale, full of heroism and great deeds, as are all tales of that ancient world. Even the Elves do not sing of it, for their sorrow is too great, but we, the Dunedain, keep its memory alive. " Isildur began, and he continued:

"You have heard much of this tale already. In ancient times, thousands of years ago, all the Elves dwelled in Eldamar, which we call Elvenhome, in the blessed realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West, living alongside the holy Valar themselves, who taught them many great things, great arts and magic. This was in very ancient days, even before my own people had set foot on our homeland of Numenor, before men had come into the world at all. Fingolfin was the son of Finwe by his second wife, and he was the half-brother of Feanor himself."

"When the Black Enemy came into Eldamar, murdering the Two Trees and stealing the Silmarils, and killing Finwe in the process, Fingolfin joined with Feanor in the rebellion against the Valar, and Fingolfin's people were the largest group of the Noldor to join with Feanor against Morgoth, the Dark Lord of Angband. He thought it unwise, and Feanor foolish, but Fingolfin was noble, and would not abandon his people to Feanor's leadership."

"Feanor, however, was treacherous to his half-brother, and after stealing ships and slaughtering many of the Teleri Elves, the greatest mariners of all the Elves, he abandoned Fingolfin, leaving him behind in Valinor while Feanor crossed the sea to Middle-earth, all his thought bent on reclaiming the Silmarils from the accursed thief who had stolen them from him But Fingolfin was not interested in the Silmarils, he sought to avenge his father's murder at the hands of the Black Enemy, but Feanor had taken all the ships and the Teleri, enraged at Feanor's kinslaying, would not build any for Fingolfin. To avenge his father, Fingolfin had to take the host of his people and go north, across the only way to Middle-earth: The Helcaraxe, the Grinding Ice"

"Hell-car-ax? What's that Uncle Isildur?" Rickon said, struggling with the unfamiliar syllables.

"It's a land far, far to the north, and in those days the sun had not yet risen over the world, and there was no light in the world but the stars. The Helcaraxe is the Grinding Ice, hundreds and hundreds of miles of broken, shifting, grinding, crushing ice sheets, devoid of all life and warmth. There, at the northern end of the world, there is nothing but ice, and vast fogs, and deathly cold mists, and the seas there are filled with the clashing hills of ice and the grinding of ice deep-sunken. Fingolfin led his people across the Helcaraxe, with nothing to show the way but starlight. Now elves are hardier and stronger than men, and they do not take ill as we do, but even they are not immune to the cold of that long night. Some died as they walked, the cold freezing even the blood in their veins. Others just laid down in the snow to go to sleep, easing themselves into the embrace of death. But for those that survived, their valour and hardiness grew with the hardship, for they were a mighty people, the elder undying children of the One Himself. The fires in their hearts would not be quenched, not even by the Helcaraxe. At great length, after many hardships and much misery, they crossed the Grinding Ice and came into Midde-earth. There, it was they, the Elves, who beheld the beauty of the first rising moon, and the glory of the first dawn of the first day, in those ancient days when the world was young,"

For a long time, Isildur sat in silence, the Stark children could only look at him, and in that moment it seemed to them that his glinting grey eyes were wells of deep memory, reflecting ages long past. For a moment, they were fully aware that this man, Isildur, son of Elendil, had lived in the time of Aegon the Conqueror, had beheld Balerion the Black Dread, had been born and grown to manhood in legendary Westernesse itself. He seemed to them to be more akin to one of the hewn stone images of ancient kings in their crypt, yet more kingly, more powerful, more beautiful, far greater in majesty and authority. At first appearances he was no older than their own father; his face was clean shaven and there was no grey in his dark hair, they could all feel that Isildur was old, a part of an older, and more fey world than their own.

"What happened after that?" Bran said at last. Then Isildur began to tell the story again:

"Fingolfin took his people south into Beleriand, and there he learned that his brother Feanor had fought a great battle against a mighty army of orcs, and slain many balrogs, the fire-demons of the Elder Days, before himself having been overthrown in the combat. Maedhros, eldest of the Sons of Feanor, had been proclaimed High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, but at Fingolfin's coming, he surrendered the kingship to Fingolfin, for having been Feanor's brother, Fingolfin's claim was stronger, and thus he was made High King."

"Now united after many years of estrangement between the Houses of Fingolfin and Feanor, the Noldor finally had the strength and leadership to threaten the Black Enemy himself and so the Dark Lord unleashed a great army of orcs from the depths of Angband upon the Noldor. Tens of thousands of orcs, they covered the land like a great black tide of insects, scurrying, snarling, vicious, sallying forth to burn the fledgling realms of the elves. The mountains spewed fire at the Dark Lord's command, and through the Enemy's foul devices, the skies grew dark at the coming of his host, and even the earth itself trembled at the marching feet of the orcs. But Fingolfin led the Noldor, and they met the orc-host on the great fields of Ard-galen, there they fought a mighty battle, and the elves held the mastery, for they were in the youth of their kind, and they were fell-handed and brave. The ground ran black with orc blood, and the orcs turned away at the valour of Fingolfin's coming and the cold death he rained upon them with his icy sword Ringil. They pursued the orcs even to the gates of Angband itself, and destroyed them all. After, under Fingolfin's leadership, they laid siege to Angband, and for four hundred years, until Fingolfin's kingship, the realms of the elves in Beleriand knew peace"

"But, you said that his story is sad…" Arya interrupted.

"He hasn't finished the story yet!" Bran snapped, and Isildur laughed.

"You have to let your uncle finish his tale before you start asking questions" he said with a merry glint in his eye.

"The Black Enemy was imprisoned, but he was not dormant for those four centuries. In the depths of his dark fortress, he was breeding a new weapon, more cunning and more terrible than orc or wight or balrog: Dragons"

"Dragons?" said Rickon, wonder in his tone.

"Yes Rickon, dragons, and not the beasts of the Targaryen kings from your stories, the Black Enemy created a great wyrm: Glaurung, the Father of Dragons. He was vast, wingless, a reptilian beast of great ferocity and terrible cunning. It was Glaurung who would bring all the misfortunes upon Turin Turambar, whose story you already know. When Glaurung was nearly fully grown, the Black Enemy sent forth fire that flowed like rivers out from the gates of Angband, setting alight all the plains of Ard-galen where Fingolfin had won his great victory four hundred years earlier, and amongst the fires came Glaurung himself, spewing yet more fire from his mighty jaws, and in his wake came thousands of orcs and wights and balrogs and other foul beasts of Morgoth's legions, and a desperate battle was joined amongst the burning fields. Though many great deeds were done, the elves could not stand before the coming of the dragon, they were beaten and scattered, and the siege of Angband was broken"

"When Fingolfin learned of the sudden attack, and of the great loss amongst his people, he was overcome by despair and a madness of rage. Filled with wrath and despair he armed himself. He donned his panoply, his tall helm, his silvered steel hauberk, his broad blue shield, and his long spear, and his sword Ringil, which glittered like ice. Then he mounted Rochallor, his great horse, and rode for Angband, passing over the burnt, ashen plains of Ard-galen like a tempest in the dust. All that beheld him fled in amazement, for such was his wrath that he seemed like Orome the Hunter had come into Middle-earth again, and his eyes shone like the eyes of a Vala. He came to the great dark gates of Angband, blowing his battle horn, and he smote upon the gates and cried out:

'Come, open wide, dark king, your ghastly brazen doors! Come forth, whom earth and heaven abhors! Come forth, O monstrous craven lord, and fight with thine own hand and sword, thou wielder of hosts of banded thralls, thou tyrant leaguered with strong walls, thou foe of Valar and elvish race! I wait thee here. Come! Show thy face!'

And Morgoth came"

"It's getting late children…" Catelyn interrupted.

"But mother, it's just getting to the best part!" Bran answered. Rolling her eyes, Catelyn nodded for Isildur to continue, and again the tall Dúnadan lord began to tell the tale:

"The sound of Morgoth's feet was like thunder underground. The brazen gate of Angband was flung open, smoking like the mouth of a volcano, and hither came Morgoth, the Black Enemy, the Dark Lord, in armour of black steel, with a great shield of sable without blazon, and in his hand he carried Grond, the hammer of the underworld. Atop his brow was set an iron crown, with the three Silmarils glimmering upon it, and he stood above Fingolfin like a tower stands above a man. Then the Enemy hurled Grond aloft, and brought it crashing down like a bolt of thunder, but nimbly Fingolfin sprang away, like lightning shoots from out of a dark cloud, and he cast his spear, but it was turned aside by the black shield of Morgoth. The crash of Grond left a smoking pit in the ground, and again Morgoth held it up and brought it down , again and again Morgoth tried to smite the Elf-king, each time rending a pit in the ground, and each time Fingolfin sprang away, his icy sword Ringil now in hand. Seven times did Fingolfin rend his foul Enemy with that glittering blade, and seven times did Morgoth cry out in pain, and seven times did the armies of Angband cry out in dismay as they beheld the duel between Elf-king and Dark Lord. Then at last Fingolfin grew weary, and Morgoth bore down his shield upon him. Thrice was he crushed to his knees, thrice did he rise again with his broken shield and stricken helm. However, the ground was rent from Grond's blows, and Fingolfin fell backwards into a pit, so Morgoth stomped down on him with his left foot and set his full weight upon him, feeling like a fallen hill on Fingolfin's throat. Yet with the last of his strength, Fingolfin gave one last stroke, hewing Morgoth's foot with Ringil, wounding the Dark Lord deeply, smoking black blood gushing forth. Then, wounded and enraged, Morgoth seized Fingolfin's body in his massive hands and broke it, and made to throw it to his wolves, but Thorondor, King of all Eagles, came rushing down from the sky as swift as the wind, stooping upon Morgoth's face and marring it with his talons. He seized Fingolfin's broken body in his great claws, and bore him away. Thus passed Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, bravest and most valiant of the Elven kings. Forever after, Morgoth would bear the scars of the duel, and the Black Enemy always walked with limp from where Ringil hewed his foot"

The Starks were quiet all around him, and Isildur stared hard into the fire, stretching out his long legs before him.

"What happened to the Elves after that?" Arya asked.

"The kingship passed to Fingon, Fingolfin's eldest son, who bore the crown until his death in battle, whereupon Turgon, lord of the hidden city of Gondolin, became High King of the Noldor. And that story too I shall tell you..." Isildur said, and then glanced up at Catelyn, who stood with hands on her hips. "Another night" he added with a merry twinkle in his eyes. Immediately there were protests from all the younger Starks.

"Enough! Robb, Sansa, take them to bed would you?" Catelyn said in exasperation.

"Of course mother, come on you lot!" laughed Robb, gathering up his younger siblings and leading them off, up the stairs to their chambers.

"Thank you for the story Uncle Isildur" Rickon said, and Isildur smiled at him and ruffled his hair before pushing him off towards the group of his siblings. Isildur looked at Catelyn, who stood with arms crossed, shaking her head ruefully.

"You always fill their heads with such unbelievable tales" Cat said with a sigh.

"The best stories are always the ones that really happened" Isildur replied as he stood up, towering over the smaller woman. Again Catelyn shook her head.

"You truly believe that such things happened?" she said.

"Cat, I truly know that such things happened. A Dúnadan never forgets" answered Isildur "Thank you for your hospitality tonight, sleep well Lady Stark" he added, and then he bowed with a flourish, and smiled, and turned and walked out of the hall, the sounds of his boots on the stones echoing around him.

The next morning, dawn crept up above the moorlands, bright and yellow, full of promise of a fine day. Isildur stood by the window of his room, on one of the upper floors of the keep, looking out upon the courtyard. He was already dressed in a fine, but simple, tunic of black and grey. In his hand he held a wooden pipe, blowing smoke from his mouth as he puffed on it, the scent of galenas filling his room as he smoked. Far beneath him, in the courtyard, a company of Stark men at arms were drilling with spear and shield, practicing coming together into the tight packed ranks of a shield wall, and moving and wheeling with shields locked together and spears presented, their razor-sharp tips glinting in the morning sun. Amongst them was Aratan, easily spotted by his great height amongst the northmen, correcting a man's stance here or his grip there, offering advice in between the sergeant-at-arms' barked commands to the company.

After Isildur had broken his fast in the great hall, dining lightly on bread, fruit and cheese with the younger Starks and members of the Royal Family, who were full of questions about his stories, he walked out of the hall only to be met by Ohtar. Ohtar was scratching at an old battle scar that ran along his cheek; in his hand he carried a long-bladed boar spear.

"Milord, will you be accompanying His Grace Tar-Robert on his boar hunt today?" Ohtar asked.

"Boar hunt? What? I thought we were to depart today?" Isildur said, confused.

"Aye milord, but Tar-Robert expressed the wish to, and I quote: 'Kill the fuck out of something' this morning, and so he and Lord Stark have decided to go on a boar hunt. Tar-Robert wishes to know if you will accompany him on the hunt. I took the liberty of finding a good boar spear for you, milord" Ohtar said, extending the spear's haft towards Isildur, but Isildur pushed it away.

"You're free to join the hunt if you so choose, but I am not in the mood for killing today," replied Isildur, walking past his squire.

"It seems, milord, Tar-Robert is always in the mood for killing" his squire said, following his lord a few paces behind him.

"Where is Robert? I must speak to him" Isildur asked.

"Over by the Hunter's Gate I believe milord" said Ohtar.

Ohtar was correct. Near to the Hunter's Gate, Isildur found his king, with Ned nearby, and a strong company, two score of hunters with spears in hand. Dogs they had too, a large number of strong mastiffs and hounds, tails all a wagging, eagerly barking amongst themselves. In the morning light, to his credit and Isildur's amazement, Robert did not look nearly as hung over as expected. 'Perhaps he's developing an immunity?' Isildur thought drily.

"You as good with a spear as you used to be?" Isildur heard Robert say to Ned as he approached.

"No, but I'm still better than you" Eddard replied, and they both laughed.

"Ah, there's my Hand. If you're done with your smoking and whatever other shit your people do in the morning, grab a spear Isildur, we're going hunting" Robert said, with a happy glint in his eyes, smiling through his black beard.

"Forgive me Your Grace, but should we not be departing for King's Landing today? We have many leagues to travel, and surely the affairs of the Realm-"

"To hell with the affairs of the Realm, I want to kill something!" Robert cut him off.

"And I don't mean to stop you!" Isildur laughed "But forgive me Your Grace, I fear that I haven't the heart for hunting today. Though I think my squire shall join you". He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw Ohtar, standing head and shoulders above the other hunters, pulling on a pair of leather gloves.

"Aye milord. If it pleases you, Your Grace, I would join in your hunt today" Ohtar said, bowing as he did.

"Fine then. If Isildur doesn't want to kill anything today, I may as well kill something with his squire. Seven Hells, between you and Eddard, King's Landing will have a surplus of grim. I'll have to work on that! Come on boys let's go kill some boar!" And with that, Robert set the spurs to his horse and galloped out of the Hunter's Gate. Eddard walked his horse past Isildur, giving his friend a knowing look, and then spurred his horse into a canter and followed his King. They were followed by the trotting spearmen on foot and by the pack of dogs, all barking as they ran.

Turning back and walking towards the main courtyard, Isildur smiled as he saw that Aratan had now fully taken over the drilling of the Stark soldiers. Aratan had them spread out across the yard, swords in hand; mirroring Aratan's movements as he led them through repeated sword drills. Aratan smoothly transitioned between cuts, thrusts and guards, and the men-at-arms drilling with him struggled to match the fluidity and speed of his blade glinting in the sun. Some did better and some did worse, yet Isildur could clearly see that the Stark soldiers all knew what they were doing. 'Sir Rodrick has always been a good trainer' Isildur thought, though he noticed that Rodrick was not amongst the drilling soldiers this morning. 'Probably away on the hunt' he mused as he turned away from the training grounds and headed towards the godswood.

Beneath the thick canopy of the godswood, the sounds of the castle seemed muted, dulled and distant. Golden rays of sunlight streamed through the dense, dark foliage as Isildur walked beneath their boughs, humming softly as he walked amongst the close confines of the wood. Hard ironwoods and ancient oaks grew thick in this godswood, and tangled roots jutted out through the dark soil. A breeze rustled the leaves and pines of the wood, yet he did not feel it down amongst the tree trunks. There was a dark, silent tranquility in the godswood this day. Isildur found himself drawn to the weirwood heart-tree in the centre of the godswood. It stood, silent and implacable, with its boughs drooping over a cold, dark pool of black water. He walked around the edges of the pool and stood by the weirdwood, running a hand along its bone-white trunk, staring into the sap-filled red eyes of the weirwood's long, drawn, melancholy face. Isildur had always felt a kinship to the weirwoods. The whole godswood of Winterfell felt old, but the weirwood heart-tree felt ancient, full of deep memory. Brandon the Builder had raised this castle around this tree; this tree had stood when Isildur had come ashore with his father and brother to set foot for the first time on Westeros. Isildur had lived for many more years than any man not of Numenorean lineage could hope, yet he felt young standing next to the weirwood. When he was young, elves would often come to his grandfather's household, always secretively, to speak with his father and grandfather and hold many counsels late into the night. He would hear them speak and sing, and Isildur had always marveled at how ageless and yet how old they seemed. Standing next to a weirwood felt like standing next to an elf.

Isildur heard barking, two sharp, high-pitched barks. It was too close, and too early in the day, for it to be the returning hunting dogs. It sounded like the barking of one of the Starks' direwolf pups. Isildur looked around for the source of the sound. Then, looking up above the tops of the trees, he saw an old, crumbling tower that brooded above the northern end of the godswood, and upon one of its walls he saw the brown shape of a child climbing. It could only be Bran, he was a better climber than Arya and Rickon was too young for climbing still. With a light heart, Isildur set off in the direction of the old tower, once again humming to himself. As he lost sight of the old tower within the darkness of the wood's dense canopy, his mind turned to other things. He wondered how close Anardil was to the Wall by now, how Elendur was ruling Ithilien in his absence. Inevitably, his thoughts turned to his future. He had not seen King's Landing since the Rebellion, seventeen years ago. It seemed that every time he rode away to the south had been in times of upheaval, war and loss. And now he was to be Hand of the King, the first Dunedain Hand in the three centuries since their nine ships had landed.

'Illuvatar grant me the strength, Valar grant me the wisdom' Isildur thought pensively. He came out of the trees into a small clearing where the canopy gave way to a window of clear blue sky. He was still some distance from the tower, but he could see Bran climbing on it more clearly now. The clever little boy had gotten all the way up to the top, and seemed to be standing at a window, peering inside.

But then Isildur's heart stopped, and Bran was falling through the air, plummeting towards the ground.

"BRAN!" Isildur cried out, and he took off at a run towards the tower. Branches of the surrounding trees whipped in his face and eyes painfully, but he pushed through them as he ran, heart pounding rapidly in his chest, a cold sweat rising on the back of his neck.

Within moments he burst through the trees to the clearing at the foot of the tower. Bran's direwolf pup was close nearby, whining and licking Bran's face insistently. The boy lay motionless, flat on his back on the cold, hard ground, bloodied and bruised, his legs splayed at an unnatural angle beneath him. Isildur sprinted, covering the last few yards to Bran's side in a few long strides, and skidded down onto his knees next to the boy.

"Oh no, please no, please not the boy" Isildur muttered, checking Bran for signs of life.

He sighed with deep relief as he found a pulse on Bran's throat, faint but steady. His breathing was light and ragged though. As he had been taught, Isildur checked the boy over for obvious injuries, and found none except for the severely broken bones in his legs. Swallowing a growing lump in his throat, Isildur scooped Bran's small body up in his arms carefully, then started back towards the courtyard, jogging as fast as he dared, trying not jar Bran's body too much.

Isildur burst through the wooden door near to the Hunter's Gate, and broke into a run across the courtyard, the ground sailing underneath him as long strides carried him towards the great hall.

"Aratan! Aratan!" he yelled out as he ran. His son was in the yard, still training with the soldiers. Turning around towards his father, Aratan's face paled when he saw Bran cradled in Isildur's arms.

"Get the Maester! And bring me athelas and my healer's bag!" Isildur barked out, now quickly jogging up the stairs to the door of the great hall.

"Aye!" Aratan yelled, running off towards the carts, "Send for Lord and Lady Stark!" he roared.

Gasps and screams of shock and surprise filled the air as Isildur carried Bran into the great hall.

The hour was late when Isildur finally left Bran's room, followed by Maester Luwin. The sweet and pungent aroma of athelas followed them as the Maester closed the door softly. Out in the hallway, the Starks were all clustered around Catelyn, faces downcast and grim. Ned's arm was around Catelyn, and her eyes were red and puffy from much crying. She stood up from where she had been sitting, her family rising with her. All eyes were on Isildur, the same question plain on each person's face.

"I believe the most dangerous time has passed… We are very lucky that Lord Isildur was in the godswood when Bran fell" Maester Luwin said gently. There was a deep, collective sigh of relief from all the Starks.

"Is-is he awake? Is he okay?" Cat asked anxiously.

"What about his legs?" Ned asked, deep concern in his eyes.

"I did all I could for him" Isildur sighed "He will walk again, but I think he will need a cane all of his life, and he will be able to run only with great pain."

"He wanted to be a knight of the Kingsguard…" Arya said quietly.

"He is deeply comatose right now; he has withdrawn within his mind, though I tried to reach out to him, he would not harken to me. Whether this is from the shock of his fall or something else, I cannot say" Isildur explained, his eyes closed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, great weariness on his face.

"What can we do for him?" said Robb, anxiousness for his brother clear on his face. From a pocket, Isildur produced a small leather bag. Opening it, he revealed several dried green leaves. The hallway was immediately filled with a clear, refreshing scent from the leaves.

"This is athelas, a plant from my homeland with many noble qualities. We have often used it in healing, but it seems most potent in my hands or the hands of those of my house. I must depart for King's Landing, but I will leave with you one of my men, my cousin Beregond, to care for Bran. If you crush these leaves in hot water and waft them around his face, you may be able to wake him, for the scent refreshes, clears and calms the mind. Beyond that, I cannot say" Isildur explained. His face was drawn, and for a moment he felt fully just how old he was. "All we can do is hope. I will pray to the One for him" he added.

"Thank you, Isildur. If you had not been here, my son-" Ned trailed off.

"Don't even think of such things. I just thank Iluvatar that I was here"

"Gods be good, Bran will awake soon and be able to thank you properly." Cat said, and she wiped a few tears from her eyes. Ned drew her into his arms for a gentle hug.

"Shh, it's alright, it'll be okay." Eddard murmured into her hair. Isildur watched them quietly for a moment, and then he bid the Starks good night and walked away towards his chamber.

Isildur found himself walking in the godswood again, but he could not remember how he got there. The sky was a stormy grey, the whole world around him seemed washed out and colourless, all sound was muted and distant except for the crunching of leaves beneath his boots as he drifted slowly through the wood. All around him, the trees were bare and lifeless. Snow was beginning to fall, and he could see his breath in the air.

"_Cold be hand and heart and bone  
and cold be sleep under stone" _Isildur heard a voice whispering. It seemed to come from behind every tree and right in his ear all at once.

He looked up, there was the old, broken tower, and there was Bran in the window once more. Bran was slipping, Bran was falling. Isildur opened his mouth to cry out, but no words came from his throat. He began to run, but it felt like he was moving underwater. Too slow, too late, he'd never make it in time.

"You couldn't save him, Isildur Elendilion" he heard a voice, deep and powerful, echoing through the woods. And then once more there came the whispering voice again.

"_Never more to wake on stony bed  
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead"_

Suddenly, Isildur was not in the godswood, but in a great large room. He recognized it: It was the great hall of the Red Keep, in King's Landing. Looking up, Isildur saw that the roof was smashed and open to a stormy grey sky. Snow was falling through the open roof, more heavily than before and already the hall was covered in a layer of white, even over the Iron Throne. Before Isildur stood two men, a table in between them. Stretched out on the table was a woman, dark-haired and fair of complexion, but deathly still and cold. The two men were weeping over her.

"You couldn't save her, Isildur Elendilion" said the deep voice, and the whispering followed.

"_In the cold winds the stars shall die  
and all men shall give a fearful cry"_

Now he found himself in a new place, but this one he recognized immediately. Despite the snow that now fell heavily upon everything, he could recognize that he was at the havens at Romenna, back in Numenor, but it was not the Romenna he remembered. A heavy blanket of snow covered everything, the buildings were broken and crumbled, the towers had been toppled, and the walls were in disrepair. The whole city had the air of a place that had been abandoned for many years. There was ice in the harbour, great floating floes of it and the sea was black as night.

Out on the horizon, Isildur could see the ocean beginning to swell, a massive swell. A swell coming towards him, growing as it did. It towered over the tops of the tallest buildings, it was taller than hills, taller than mountains, taller than Mount Meneltarma itself. A wall of black water, vast and silent, bearing down on Isildur implacably and unstoppably, coming towards him faster and faster.

"You couldn't even save your home, Isildur Elendilion"

"_And the Dark Lord shall raise his hand over dead sea and withered land"_

With a mighty roar, the wave came crashing down.

"NO!" Isildur cried out as he sat bolt upright in bed. He was breathing heavily, his sheets were soaked with cold sweat, and he felt his heart pounding hard in his chest. The low embers of his fire were burning out in his hearth, and the grey light of dawn streamed through his window. Then Isildur's door was flung open, and the Numenorean knight who had been on watch rushed in, hauling his sword from its scabbard.

"Cirion, it's alright… Just a dream" Isildur said slowly as he swung his feet over the side of his bed. His guard visibly relaxed.

"Very well milord" Cirion replied, sheathing his sword. He saluted in the Numenorean fashion, with clasped fist on his breast, and then left the room.

Isildur pulled on his travelling clothes, a sturdy, simple, but finely made high-collared tunic with trousers, and a sleeveless black surcoat overtop, belted around the waist with Narsil on his right side and a short dagger on the left. On the right side of his chest, over his heart, a small tree was embroidered in silver on his surcoat. From his bedside table, Isildur picked up a silver brooch. It was small, but very finely made, a silver brooch in the shape of an eagle with wings outstretched and an eight-rayed star on its chest. Isildur regarded it for a moment, and then pulled his heavy grey cloak up around his shoulders and pinned it there with his brooch. Then he pulled a long wooden pipe and some dried galenas out of a pouch on his belt, and filled the pipe, lit it, and then wrapped his cloak around himself and stood by the window as he smoked.

The weather matched his mood: Grey and grim, with only a hint of blue sky on the horizon, the rest covered in overcast clouds. There was no training in the courtyard this morning, the King's retinue was too busy preparing for departure, packing and repacking the carriages, carts and wains, marshaling the horses and assembling the supplies, barrel upon barrel of food and drink for the road. Ohtar was amongst them, bickering with some Lannister squire over a matter of some package to go in the cart for the Dunedain or the cart for the Lannister men. Isildur heaved a deep sigh, breathing a cloud of smoke out the window, they had many miles to go today, and even after his smoke his mind was not at peace.

After he had checked on Bran to find the little Stark still deeply asleep, his breathing now steadier, Isildur broke his fast. When he had eaten lightly of bread and cheese, Isildur walked out into the main courtyard. The travel preparations were continuing smoothly, and Ohtar seemed to have his own company's preparations firmly under control. He had always been an excellent squire. Isildur breathed the brisk northern air in deeply, and then spotted Jon standing over by Winterfell's smithy. As he walked over towards him, Jaime Lannister passed by Isildur going in the opposite direction. The wolfish look in Jaime's eyes seemed to say that he was sizing Isildur up, measuring him in some way. Involuntarily, Isildur's hand twitched near Narsil's hilt.

Jon was standing above a workbench as the blacksmith polished off a sword with a long, thin, light blade with a complex guard around the hilt.

"You are to leave today?" Isildur said as he approached. Jon turned, startled at his voice.

"Yes, going north with my uncle, my lord" Jon replied.

"Jon Stark, I'll say it again: Call me Isildur. You planning on taking that to the Wall?" said Isildur, nodding towards the thin blade in the blacksmith's hands. The finishing touches done, the smith sheathed it in a special thin scabbard and handed it to Jon.

"No, it's a gift" Jon explained with a small smile. Isildur held out his hand towards it, and Jon handed it over. With one smooth motion, Isildur swept it out of its scabbard and held it aloft before his face.

"I never thought I'd see one of these again. In my homeland they were called 'limmegil'. They were quite a fashion amongst the nobles. Rather useless on a battlefield full of armoured men, but they were quite handy in the duels of honour most of our nobles were fighting, or for driving off thugs in the street." Isildur said, and then sheathed the sword and handed it back to Jon. "Who is it for?" he asked.

"My sister"

"Ah, Arya. It will suit her well. So much like her aunt, that one… Jon, I know a lot of people in the Kingdoms don't take the Watch seriously, but I would just like to thank you now for choosing to take the black. Not many volunteer for such a duty, not many have the right spirit for it, but I see you shall go far, Jon Stark." Isildur said, and he extended his hand towards Jon. Jon went to take it in a handshake, but instead Isildur clasped Jon's forearm firmly in the Numenorean fashion

"Give my best to my nephew" Isildur said.

"I will" replied Jon with a smile.

"Good hunting, Jon Stark"

Over by the supply cart, Isildur found Aratan and Ohtar. All of the Dunedain belongings had been packed away snugly in the cart, and Ohtar was overlooking the lashings that held it down with a satisfied eye.

"How is Brandon?" Aratan asked immediately.

"He will survive, the only thing worrying me now is when he will awake. The athelas shall help, and young Beregond was ever a diligent student of the healers" answered his father. Isildur pulled his saddle off the cart and put it over his shoulder, then walked over to where a groom was holding Fleetfoot's bridle and placed it on the horse's back.

"Forgive me father, if I had been faster-" Aratan began, but his father cut him off.

"Enough of that Ari. You are too hard on yourself. I went to see Bran before I broke my fast this morning, his breathing has improved, and there is more colour in his skin today. All we can do now is hope and pray to Illuvatar for the boy and his family"

"To endure such injury at such a young age… Poor boy" Aratan said, while Isildur secured the straps on Fleetfoot's saddle.

"My Lord Isildur" said the voice of Robb Stark. Isildur turned away from his horse to see the eldest of the Stark children standing there. Despite Robb's strong, stocky build, he appeared small amongst the tall Numenoreans all around him.

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did for my brother, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't have been here" Robb said. Isildur stopped him with a raised hand.

"I'm just glad I was here. I'm very fond of that boy. I hope he awakes soon. You will write me when he awakes?"

"Yes, of course. And you'll watch my father's back down in the capital?" Robb replied.

"Always have" Isildur laughed.

It was nearly noon when the King's entourage was ready to leave. With a great clatter of hooves on cobblestones, the column set off, riding beneath the tunnel of the main gatehouse. The royal procession streamed out from under the portcullis like a river of colour and steel. King Robert led at the forefront of the column, the royal stag banners streaming above his head, with knights and men-at-arms in Baratheon yellow all about him. Next went the Queen's carriage, with Lannister men on horse and foot all around it, lion banners fluttering in the cool breeze. Bringing up the rear were the Starks and the Numenoreans, the white tree of the Dunedain flying alongside the grey direwolf of House Stark.

The few summer inhabitants of the winter town lined the streets for the King's departure as the procession passed out of the East Gate of Winterfell. Isildur could never get used to their awed looks whenever he rode amongst Westerosi. They rode out on the eastern road, over the broad grassy moors and hills surrounding Winterfell. The overcast was beginning to clear, and rays of sunlight pierced the clouds, shining down upon the fair green hills of the North. At length, they came to the crossroads, the castle of Winterfell now shrinking in the distance behind them. Ahead of Isildur, he saw Benjen Stark, and the little Lannister dwarf and his two guards, turn away from the main column and start up the northern path. Jon and Eddard had stopped at the crossroads.

"The next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother" Isildur heard Ned say, his voice personal and deeply emotional. Jon turned his mount, and then cantered away towards the north after his uncle.

Isildur found himself halting Fleetfoot at the crossroads, silently looking away towards the north. The column was passing him by as he sat upon his horse, watching Jon and Benjen and the Lannister dwarf ride away.

'That boy rides towards dark places and hard labours… And so do' Isildur mused, and then reined Fleetfoot around and cantered away into the south.


	4. Chapter IV

**Chapter IV**

**The Kingsroad**

Days turned to weeks as the King's company rode south along the Kingsroad. At first they rode through the broad, grassy highlands of the North, and Isildur slept under a vast expanse of stars each night. The weather was cool, but pleasant, sunny with little clouds and no rain. And so south they rode, the climate growing gradually milder and warmer as the miles passed away and they went further and further south. Though the Kingsroad this far north was only a dirt path, it was dry and hard-packed, and the going was easy. For days and weeks, they rode south, until finally they reached Moat Cailin, at the northern end of the Neck. There the company passed a night in the cold, silent ruins of the once-great fortress, amongst toppled towers and massive slabs of black basalt that were once walls. They were not smooth like walls of Numenorean stonework, but marked, pitted and hewn. Isildur ran a hand along the rough surface of one of the blocks.

'How long did it take them to cut this block and move it here? How many lives of men were spent putting up this fortress to guard the gates of the North?' Isildur mused, for he knew that the First Men did not have the art of the Men of Numenor with which to shape stone, they had done this with no great power or craft, just simple hands hewing away at hard rock over years and years. Though they had built Moat Cailin with less artistry and grace than Isildur and his people had erected Minas Ithil and Annuminas and Minas Anor and the other great fortresses of the Dunedain, in a way he found Moat Cailin to be even more impressive, for it was far more primitive, short lived people with less knowledge that had raised this castle and it's towers and walls.

A quiet, surprisingly restful night they passed amongst the silent walls of Moat Cailin, and then at dawn's first light they set out again, onto the causeway that led into the vast swamp known as the Neck. No longer was the world green and grassy, in the Neck it was damp and swampy and full of mist. The waters were cold and clammy, and their dark, greasy surfaces were covered in the scum of weeds. The ragged shadows of dead grass and reeds loomed in the mists, and here and there were lonesome, half-drowned trees covered in moss and fungus. For the most part the Kingsroad was dry, raised high above the marshes on a causeway, but in some places the Neck had worn down the causeway and the road became wet, muddy and boggy, treacherous for both horse and cart. More than one of the footmen lost a boot or other article of clothing in the deep, sucking mud.

Even worse than the mud and the persistent dampness were the insects, huge swarms and clouds of insects. There were horseflies as bigger as half a grown man's thumb, black clouds of biting midges, mosquitos in abundance; hosts of insects, armies of insects, numbers so great that the air was filled with an ever-present buzzing of tiny wings. At night the swarms grew even bolder, and the men passed the night in an agony of bites and swatting, or else wrapping themselves in their bed rolls and trying to endure as best they could. The midges and flies sought out eyes, nostrils, and ears; they tormented man and animal alike. Each day was silent but for the buzzing, each man enduring his own private hell of insects. Out in the mists, they heard the deep-throated hisses and roars of lizard-lions, and more than one man awoke cursing in the night with a snake slithering beneath his sheets for warmth. The days seemed to run together into one never-ending blur of wet misery.

Then one day, just over a week since Moat Cailin, the mists rolled back, the ground grew dry and solid, and the world became green and fair once more as they broke through the Neck and into the Riverlands. The company continued south along the Kingsroad, on the eastern bank of the cold, swift-running Green Fork. The valleys were fertile, the woodlands a verdant green, and they rode past fields rich with grain, past thriving towns and villages, past hilltop castles whose banners bravely proclaimed the sigils of the Riverlords. A constant stream of boats passed up and down the Green Fork, bearing goods and merchants up and down the Green Fork. It was a welcome change after the unbearable experience of the Neck, the men's spirits were raised, and their journey became merry once again.

"Gods, now this is country!" Robert declared as he stepped out from behind a tree where he had been urinating. The sun was warm on Isildur's face, and a pleasant breeze rustled the leaves in the trees. They had stopped alongside the road for a noon meal. Fresh Riverlands fruit, good white bread and meat roasted on an open fire were spread out, using boxes and crates for tables for Ned, Isildur and the King.

"I've half a mind to just take my horse and keep going, leave them all behind" Robert said as he sat down and grabbed a mug of brown beer.

"I've half a mind to join you" Ned replied.

"What do you say Ned, just you and me on the Kingsroad, swords at our sides, couple of tavern wenches to warm our beds tonight" Robert said with a grin.

"Just you and Ned?" Isildur asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Only because I know you'd never come with us!" Robert laughed.

"Oh I can think of a time when I might have" Isildur replied with a merry twinkle in his eye.

"When was that, four hundred years ago?" Robert teased.

"More like three hundred actually" Isildur replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Robert and Ned exchanged glances.

"Gods Isildur, how is it your people live for-bloody-ever anyways? No one's ever told me" Robert asked.

"Death is a gift Robert. My people are just given longer before they must accept the Gift of Men" answered Isildur. Immediately Robert scoffed with derision.

"'Death is a gift' you say, 'Gift of Men' you say. Bunch of mystical Numenorean bollocks I say. It's a load of shit that you get to live on and on for hundreds of years doing as you please, like your eighty year old son out in the Free Cities adventuring, whilst me and Ned never even got a chance to be young" the King said.

"Oh, I recall a few chances" Ned said with a grin. Robert broke into a hearty laugh.

"There was that one, that common girl of yours" he said to Ned "Becka, with the big tits you could bury your face in!"

"Bessie" Ned corrected him "She was one of yours"

"Bessie! Thank the gods for Bessie and her tits!" Robert laughed. Isildur rolled his eyes at both of them.

"Oh don't give us that look Isildur, I know you must have taken at least one nice plump whore to your tent at some point" the King said merrily.

"No, I didn't" Isildur replied flatly.

"How about you Ned? Who was that common girl of yours? Alena? Merril? Your bastard's mother" Robert said to Eddard.

"Wylla" Ned said quietly.

"She must have been a rare wench to make Lord Eddard Stark forget his honour" Robert teased "You never told me what she looked like"

"Nor will I" replied Ned coldly. Robert looked at him hard.

"We were at war, none of us knew if we were ever going to go home again. You're too hard on yourself, you and Isildur both, you always have been" Robert said.

"You know Isildur, there was this one Numenorean girl I was with this one time, Silmarien, Gods there are some benefits to a girl who can live for hundreds of years but keep a young woman's body" Robert said with a laugh.

"Silmarien is my granddaughter's name" Isildur said flatly, staring hard at Robert. As Robert's faced paled, Isildur burst into laughter.

"My granddaughter is only twelve. You should have seen the look on your face!" Isildur guffawed, slapping his knee.

"It's a good thing I'm your King, between you and Ned being so embarrassed about his wench, one of you would have hit me already" Robert said with a grin.

"The worst thing about your coronation was that I'll never get to hit you again" Ned said drily with a smile. Suddenly, Robert's face seemed to darken.

"Trust me, that's not the worst thing" he said. From a pocket, he took out a small piece of parchment paper. "There was a rider in the night" Robert explained, and handed it to Ned. Ned read over the letter, and then grimaced and threw it down upon the table.

"Daenerys Targaryen has wed some Dothraki horselord, what of it? Shall we send her a wedding gift?" Ned said.

"A dagger in the night perhaps, and a bold man to wield it." Robert replied harshly.

"Perhaps sending them a few dragon skulls would-" Isildur began, but he was cut off.

"Oh you actually want to send a gift!?" Robert snapped, "What Rhaegar Targaryen did to the woman I love was unforgivable, what the Mad King did to Ned's family was unforgivable. I'll kill every single Targaryen I can get my hands on and whoever stands in my way!" he finished with a snarl.

"Well this one is across the Narrow Sea, and she's little more than a child Robert" Ned said. Robert's eyes were hard and cold.

"Soon enough that child will spread her legs for this 'Khal Drogo' and start breeding, and what then? There's still plenty in the Kingdoms who say I'm a usurper, and if a Targaryen boy crossed with a hundred thousand screaming Dothraki behind him? There's scum who will join him. This is why you will build me an army Ned, and you'll give him everything he needs to do it Isildur" Robert replied, voice harsh and commanding. There's was a moment of silence, and it was plain that Eddard carefully considering his next words.

"As you wish, Your Grace" Ned said finally. The breeze was rustling in the leaves and the grass, and Robert took a long swig from his beer, which calmed him.

"You speak the truth Your Grace, however sending assassins after the Khal's wife will only aggravate the Dothraki, and even though they cannot cross the Narrow Sea, I do not think sending her a dagger to be planted in her breast is the most prudent choice of action" Isildur advised, his voice even, conciliatory.

"Isildur, in that letter it reports that Daenerys is being accompanied by an unusual mercenary. Very tall, with dark hair, and he carries a steelbow" the King said. Isildur furrowed his brows.

"My people aren't sellswords Robert… And if you're suggesting that it was my son-" Isildur's tone was rising.

"No, no, I'm not suggesting anything" Robert said immediately, raising his hands diplomatically. "But it sounds like one of your people. All I'm suggesting is that you should write your boy, check where he is, what he's doing… I'd hate for him to get mixed up in any bad business across the Narrow Sea"

Isildur took a deep breath.

"It couldn't be my son, he wouldn't. He would never debase him so. I taught him better than that" the tall Numenorean said at last. Again they sat in silence, their food untouched, until the King broke the silence.

"There's a war coming, I don't know when or who, but I can feel it coming" he said, staring hard at Ned and Isildur in turn.

Their ride continued south, the weather growing warmer with each mile they passed closer to King's Landing. The Kingsroad grew busier as they traveled deeper and deeper into the rich, populous, southern heart of Westeros. They were still on the northern shore of the Trident, far from the heartlands of the Reach, and yet traffic on the Kingsroad was growing with every day, merchants and travellers heading one way or another. The smallfolk bowed as the King and his company passed them by, but Isildur caught a few awed glances cast up his way. 'Numenorean' they whispered as he passed. He would never get used to such awe from others, and already he felt the yearning for Minas Ithil, the fair highlands of Ithilien and his own people.

Then at last it came time for them to cross the Trident, at the Ruby Ford.

It was unnaturally quiet when they came to the Ford. The kind of quiet that Isildur felt would precede an ambush, though he knew that no such attack would come, for they were not at war. It was a hot day, the second hour of the afternoon, with the sun just beginning to sink from its zenith. There was no wind, no rustling in the trees or grass, no songs of birds, and even the burbling of water over the rocks of the shallow ford and the sounds of horses and carts crossing it seemed subdued.

Robert sat sullenly upon his horse as Isildur rode up behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at Isildur, showing a face deep in contemplation. Isildur gently pulled back on Fleetfoot's reins to halt next to his King.

"You remember this place Isildur?" Robert asked.

"I remember it well" Isildur replied.

"I remember like it was yesterday. The royal army's ranks were all massed on that bank over yonder, with the colours and shields and sigils of the Targaryens and the Martells and dozens of different loyalist houses, and I remember how there was that great pause as both our armies stopped and stared each other down, and then, as if on a signal, we all charged right into the middle of them. By the Gods, we hit them like a thunderbolt, all of us at once" Robert reminisced, his eyes cloudy and distant.

"A fine way to open the ball" said Isildur.

"The ball! I like that, maybe if you called a battle a ball, you'd get my little brother out on the field. I remember charging right at that cursed dragon Rhaegar, right for his dragon standard, with the hammer in my hand. But I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there with us" Robert went on, sighing deeply.

"You would have won, with or without me. I just made it easier. It doesn't change the fact that you won that battle with a swing of your hammer" Isildur replied.

"Aye" said Robert, "Aye, I remember like it was yesterday. I'll remember that blow to the day I day. You and your housecarls had just smashed your way through the locked shields of the Warguard. I found Rhaegar in the ford, slogging through the water on foot. His visor was up; he was catching a breath when he saw me. I put everything into that blow, all my strength, all my rage, all my hate. Collapsed his breast plate, broke every bone in his chest I bet, sent those rubies scattering into the river. Gods, I still remember the look on his face, the shock on those sneering Targaryen features, the shockwave traveling up through my arms from how hard I hit him…"

Isildur stared at his friend. Robert's face was unreadable even to the Numenorean and his tone strange. There was a certain sense of vindictive satisfaction in his voice, but also regret. Not regret for Rhaegar, of that Isildur was certain, but perhaps regret for Lyanna, all that he had done for her sake, and all that had all come to naught.

"What do you remember about that day?" The King asked. Isildur closed his eyes for a moment.

"I remember duelling Barristan Selmy on the far bank of the river, before you struck down Rhaegar" the Numenorean said, reopening his eyes. "Ned had fought him to a standstill, and I intervened when I saw Ned begin to tire and struggle. I had been routing the loyalists wherever I came against them, so I didn't expect much from Ser Barristan, yet to my own amazement he stood when no other would. He must have known he was outclassed; I was larger than him, stronger, a longer reach, more experienced. But still he stood, and he fought hard, the hardest fight I've ever gotten from an Andal, he fought bravely. I was so impressed that I disarmed him rather than kill him. Good man, Ser Barristan, the best Andal knights I've ever fought, the best I've ever seen" As Isildur spoke, his tone was melancholy, and his face was pensive.

"We should be riding on, Your Grace," Isildur said. Robert sighed.

"That we should Isildur" he agreed, and squeezed at his horse's flanks.

As the column passed out of the ford and Robert rode away, Isildur looked around at the Ruby Ford. It seemed so odd that a place that had seen such horrendous carnage could be so quiet and tranquil. The Trident had been stained red with blood, the stream littered with bodies of the dead and dying, the ford filled with struggling men, the air had been full of shouts, screams and battle cries, with the clash of armour and weapons. And yet, the Ruby Ford showed no trace of the horrors it had seen that day. It was just another ford on the mighty Trident, filled with the sounds of water running over rocks. The company was drawing away now, so Isildur spurred Fleetfoot across the ford, and followed his King.

Now south of the Trident and coming closer to the heartlands of the Eight Kingdoms, the King's procession rode through along southern bank of the Trident, through well-cultivated farmlands, dotted with small septs and villages, and here and there on the hilltops there were the holdfasts of the lords of the region. Tall hedgerows separated the fields and ran along the road, punctuated here and there by ancient oaks and stately elm trees. From time to time they would pass a common meadow, grazed upon by cattle, oxen and herds of bleating sheep. The climate was warm, in the full heat of a southern summer, with the sun bright and hot.

They came to an inn not long after the crossing at the Ruby Ford, late in the afternoon as the sun began to sink towards evening. It was a fair inn, two storeys tall and built of stone, with a wide grassy meadow across the road from it, and surrounded all by forest. It sat upon a crossroads, where the Kingsroad running from King's Landing to Winterfell was intersected by two other roads, one running east to the Vale of Arryn, another west towards the Riverlands and the Westerlands. A sign above the door proclaimed it as "The Crossroads Inn", an apt name. The glade in which it sat was quiet enough, but in the distance they could hear the rush of the nearby Trident, now a swift, mighty river from the merger of its three forks. Robert announced that they would spend the night at the inn before continuing on in the morning. Immediately, the men began to pitch tents and pavilions all around the inn.

"Will you be taking a room in the inn milord?" asked Ohtar. He was standing next to the Dunedain cart, helping the men unpack the gear for making camp. In one smooth motion, Isildur dismounted Fleetfoot.

"No Ohtar, I think I'll sleep outside tonight, with the men. Pitch my pavilion somewhere amongst our people, I'll leave it to you" Isildur answered, beginning to loosen off the saddle straps on his horse. Fleetfoot tossed his head and neighed at other passing horses as his master removed the saddle, and then retrieved a brush from the baggage and began to brush him down.

"Let me do that milord, you needn't trouble yourself" Ohtar said.

"It's fine, you have enough of your business to attend to, I can take care of Fleetfoot myself" Isildur said with a smile.

When his horse had been tended to, and tied up with the other Numenorean mounts in a pasture of good grass, Isildur made his way to the inn. As he opened the door to the common room, a greyish flash streaked across the floor and ran into one of his legs.

"Nymeria!" cried a voice. It was Arya Stark, dressed in her usual tattered common garb, a brush in her hand. Looking down, Isildur saw that the grey flash was one of the direwolf pups that the Stark children were raising, now grown to equal a good sized dog. It had a fierce aspect in its flashing yellow eyes that spoke of a wildly independent spirit. 'Just like its master' Isildur thought as he knelt down, smiling at the wolf. Gingerly he carefully extended a hand towards it, holding eye contact with the wolf. Cocking its head to the side, the wolf sat down on its haunches, tail wagging slowly. Isildur slowly patted the wolf along its shoulder; the fur was soft and silky, but matted with dirt and mud.

"Nymeria?" he said to Arya as she knelt by her wolf and began to brush the mud out of its hair.

"I named her after the Warrior Queen of the Rhoynar" Arya said, almost bashfully, as if the name was silly or childish.

"A worthy name for a direwolf I think" Isildur said. He had always liked Arya, a fiercely independent little girl, so adventurous, making friends amongst highborn and commoners alike. Lately had often seen her with the butcher's boy, running here or there, going far afield of the column, exploring everywhere as they rode south. With her dark Stark colouring and long face and wild nature, she reminded him very much of her aunt, Lyanna.

"She got all muddy when we crossed the river; I was trying to get her clean. Stay still Nymeria, I need to do the other side!" she said as the direwolf tried to squirm away from the brush. Nymeria tried to spring away again, but Isildur seized her firmly but gently and spoke to her softly in the Elven tongue, and the direwolf quieted down and sat patiently as Arya began to brush the other side.

"How did you do that Uncle Isildur?" Arya asked with wide, wondering eyes.

"Sindarin, the tongue of the Grey-elves." He said with a chuckle "Ever since I was a boy I have found Quenya more beautiful, more elegant, but animals always seem to respond best to Sindarin. I've yet to meet a beast that did not seem to understand its words" Nymeria regarded Isildur with brilliant yellow eyes as he scratched her behind one of her ears.

"Could you teach me?" Arya asked eagerly. Isildur stood up with a good natured smile, whilst Nymeria still sat patiently as Arya brushed the clods of mud out of her fur.

"I shall be quite busy when we get to King's Landing, but when I am free or one of my men is unoccupied, we shall teach you what we can of the Elven tongues. You are so much like your aunt, she was eager to learn as well" Isildur said with a laugh.

"My aunt Lyanna could speak Elvish?" Arya asked, voice full of wonder.

"Aye, one of my best students in fact. She often came to Minas Ithil, and travelled many times to Annúminas, Minas Anor, Osgiliath, all our great cities. She was so eager to learn anything she could about us, our homeland, our history, our language. She was equally at home in the sparring yard as she was discussing philosophy with my brother. You are very much like her, quite unlike your sister" he answered. Arya rolled her eyes at the mention of her sister.

"She's just so… Ugh! Her and Septa Mordane both, they never want to do anything fun. They want me to ride in the wheelhouse with the Queen tomorrow, but the wheelhouse doesn't even have windows! You can't see anything. I'd much rather go riding; there are so many things I've never seen before in the south!" Arya complained. She finally finished brushing the last of the dirt and mud from Nymeria's coat. The young direwolf had a savage beauty to her, with long, dark grey fur on her back and flanks and lighter, creamy fur on her underside and neck. Her limbs were shapely and strong, and Isildur could tell that her friendliness around Arya belied a far more savage nature.

"Well it is a great honour to be asked to attend the Queen" Isildur said. 'An honour I can do without with that woman' he thought, but did not say it. Arya did not look too impressed by the honour either.

"Mycah and I are going to go exploring instead" Arya said "We're going to go looking for the rubies!"

"The rubies?" Isildur said. It was then that he remembered the rubies that had been encrusted in the shape of a dragon on Rhaegar's breastplate that day at the Trident, and how they had been sent flying like a spray of blood when Robert's war hammer had caved that breastplate in, and he remembered the soldiers of both sides, rebel and loyalist alike, scrambling to gather up the precious stones.

"Rhaegar's rubies, do you think there's still any left?" Arya asked. Isildur smiled warmly at her.

"Perhaps, if you look hard enough" he told her, ruffling her hair. With a wide, beaming smile, she ran off, Nymeria loping along at her heels.

"There is a lot of the wolf's blood in her" said Aratan's voice. Isildur turned to see his son behind him, just outside the door to the inn. Like all Numenoreans, he was tall, almost a spitting image of his father and eldest brother, but for his mother's blue eyes rather than the grey of his father and siblings. In one hand he held an envelope, sealed with black wax, which Isildur knew was the seal of the Night's Watch.

"A rider just arrived from the North, he said this was addressed to you by your old friend Mormont, Lord Commander of the Watch. The rider is one of the brothers; he said he set out as soon as the word reached Castle Black of your appointment as Hand. He's been on our trail for weeks" Aratan said, extending the envelope towards his father. Isildur walked out of the inn common room into the warmth of the southern air, taking the letter from Aratan's hands as he did. He broke the thick, heavy seal and opened it up.

"Ohtar!" Isildur called over to his squire, whom he spotted speaking to the lean, rangy black-clad Watchman who stood, looking weary and worn by hard riding, by a sweating, panting horse. Ohtar snapped sharply to attention, an old soldier's habit, at his lord's address.

"See that the Watchman is given food and rest, and plenty of drink" he ordered. Ohtar led the grateful messenger off towards the inn.

"Definitely Mormont's hand" Isildur said as he read over the letter. Isildur and Aratan, standing head and shoulders above most of the Westerosi, headed towards the Numenorean encampment, which stood separated by a short distance from the rest of the camp.

"What news?" asked Aratan.

"Seems that news travels fast in the Kingdoms, my old friend the Lord-Commander already knows I am the new Hand of the King" Isildur said. "He is asking for my support to help renew the Night's Watch. They have barely a thousand black brothers left, barely enough funds to maintain them, barely enough food to keep them fed… Valar above, I always knew the Watch was neglected but never so shamefully or so badly" he said incredulously, eyes sweeping over the letter again.

"Anardil went north to the Wall" Aratan said quietly.

"Aye, one of our folk shall be a great boon to them there, but not enough I judge" Isildur replied.

"Shall you speak to Tar-Robert about this matter?" asked his son.

"I must. If the tales about what lies beyond the Wall are even half as true as our tales are, then letting the Night's Watch fall to such a state would be an extreme folly."

"But, the Westerosi say those things have been gone for thousands of years…" Aratan said.

"We thought that our Enemy was gone too, lost in the War of Wrath, but he came slithering back up from the east to haunt our halls again." Isildur said in a hard voice, folding the letter back up. He deposited it in a pocket on the inside of his tunic, to show the King later.

"Aratan, when you begin training the recruits for Robert's host, I want you to select a fair number, several hundred to a thousand at the least. Good, brave, dependable young men with few family associations to hold them back, the sort of men that the Watch needs. I'll leave their selection to you, but have a list ready so when I convince Robert of the need to reinforce the Wall, we can have them ready to send, already trained by you and our masters-at-arms." said Isildur.

"Yes father" Aratan said, nodding his head.

"And I need you to do something for me as well" replied Isildur, his tone deadly serious. He stopped and faced his son, placing a hand on Aratan's shoulder.

"Anything father" his son said.

"I need you to relax sometime Ari" Isildur said with a fatherly smile, ruffling his son's hair just as he used to do when Aratan was a boy.

"I relax plenty!" Aratan protested with a laugh.

They turned and walked into the Numenorean camp, amongst tents and pavilions of black and white, silver and blue. Merry fires were crackling amongst the tents, and here and there gathered groups of the Dunedain soldiers, laughing and talking amongst themselves as they began to prepare their evening meal. The aroma of meat beginning to roast over an open fire wafted amongst the tents.

"Relax plenty you say? Ohtar tells me that every day you're up before everyone else, going through sword forms. At lunch you spar with one of our knights. And I've seen you up after almost everyone else, still working on forms. Aratan, the exercise of arms has ever been your joy, but do not overwork yourself. There will be much to do when we reach King's Landing. Don't make me set Ohtar on you, you know what he's like" Isildur threatened good-naturedly.

"Oh I know" Aratan laughed "He's got that saying: 'a good squire's greatest duty is-"

"'To make sure his fucking knight gets some fucking sleep'" Isildur finished "Trust me son, I've heard it many times". They both laughed. The father and son found a fire near the centre of the camp and sat down amongst their men for the evening meal. Isildur always made a point of eating amongst his men whenever possible, of knowing them as best he could, of sharing in their laughter, their triumphs and their hardships. His father had told him when he was a boy that no man would follow a stranger who stood behind him.

The cook was just dishing out joints of roasted lamb when a cry arose from the inn, and then suddenly there was a cacophony of noise and commotion from the building. Men were shouting, dogs were barking, and amongst the noise was the more distinctive bark of Sansa's direwolf. Isildur shot to his feet, followed by Aratan, and they strode towards the inn swiftly. They were met at the crossroads by Ned Stark and many of his men, who were kindling torches and assembling their horses. There was a stricken, worried look across Ned's grim features as he took a torch from one of his men.

"Arya has gone missing" he said, seeing the question in Isildur's eyes. Isildur paled, and then shot a look at Aratan. His son immediately understood without even a word, and took off running back towards the Dunedain camp.

"There was some incident by the river, I didn't hear the whole story, Sansa and the Prince are in there now, his arm is bleeding. Arya has run off with her wolf, Sansa doesn't know where she went" Ned explained. Torches in hand, his men began to fan out and enter the woods between the inn and the Trident, calling out Arya's name.

"My men and I will help search" Isildur said. Aratan had already roused the Dunedain of his household from their camp, and they were kindling torches of their own to join in the search with the Stark men.

"My Lord Isildur" said an urgent voice behind them. It was the King's squire, a young, sandy-haired youth with the look of a Lannister about him. "The King is asking for you" he explained.

Isildur locked eyes with Ned. They both already guessed what Robert wanted.

"My men will help you search; I will see to the Prince's wounds and then join you as soon as I can" Isildur said. Ned nodded and headed off towards the dark, dense woods, calling out his daughter's name with the rest of the searchers.

The common room of the Crossroads Inn was lit by many candles and a blazing fire in its hearth. It was crowded, too crowded, as it was filled by the serving staff of the inn, Lannister men, Baratheon men, and many of the servants and retainers crowding around a table near the end of the hall. Looking above their heads, Isildur could see Robert and the Queen standing near to their son, talking in heated, argumentative tones. One of the servants was cleaning out the wounds on the Prince's arm, whilst the Prince snivelled and whimpered with each touch of the damp cloth. The crowds parted before the tall Numenorean lord as he walked in, heavy boots thudding on the flagstones of the common room's floor.

"Isildur, finally a man with some common sense! Come talk some of your Numenorean wisdom into my wife" Robert said, turning towards him as Isildur approached.

"Yes Lord Isildur, please tell His Grace the King of the seriousness of his son's wound" Cersei said, a touch of venom and a dash of motherly concern in her voice.

"Serious wound? Seven Hells woman, I've seen serious wounds. This will give him some good scars and nothing worse, it was just a dog bite" the King said.

"Wolf" Cersei spat. "It was one of those northern savages' wolves"

Wordlessly, Isildur walked past them and approached the Prince. The servant stepped back with a bowed head, for he knew that Isildur had far greater knowledge as a healer and physician than himself. Seeing that the servant had only pushed up Prince Joffrey's tunic sleeve to clean the wound, Isildur unsheathed his dagger from his belt and swiftly cut the remains of the sleeve off to expose the arm. He knelt by the bench that Prince Joffrey sat upon and gently took the Prince's arm in his hands to examine it. Joffrey gave a whimper at Isildur's touch. The bite marks in his arm were bloody, but not severe. Isildur tested the motion in each of the Prince's fingers, and then the motion of his wrist, testing to make sure that the bite had no damaged any of the sinews in the arm. It was just as Robert had assessed it: Not a severe wound. There would be scars, but nothing worse.

"He'll live" Isildur said, standing up and turning around. "Wash his wound out well, bandage it in clean linen and change the bandages regularly. There'll be scars but no permanent damage, you have my word"

"'No permanent damage'? My son has been savaged by a wild beast!" Cersei hissed. Ignoring her, Isildur started towards the door.

"Where are you going my lord Isildur? Your prince is wounded, he requires your attention" the Queen said vehemently. Isildur spun around on her.

"If the Prince was mauled by a bear, perhaps he would. But he wasn't, and there is a young girl out in the woods right now who is lost. Your son will live, I promise you. Your servant was doing a perfectly adequate job of cleaning his wound. The Prince is safe. Arya Stark might not be. I go where I am needed, your Grace" he said, deadly quiet and calm. In his eyes they could see the restrained anger and outrage. No one spoke a word as Isildur stalked out of the common room, the crowds once again scattering before him like leaves in a gale.

They spent hours searching in the forests along the banks of the Trident, northmen and Dunedain alike, first in the failing light of the evening, then on into the night, with the orange lights of their torches casting flickering in the darkness. "ARYAAA!" many voices called out, echoing in the silent woods. Ned led them, and with his daughter potentially in danger he seemed tireless, striding forward, calling out his daughter's name ceaselessly.

Then, near to the midnight hour, Isildur spotted torchlight in the distance, down towards the banks of the Trident. The light was too far ahead of their own line to be one of his men or Ned's. Leaving Eddard and Aratan to continue the search, Isildur headed towards the light. The night air was cool on his bare face, and as he tramped through the underbrush he was surrounded by the nocturnal sounds of a forest. Crickets chirped and insects buzzed around his ears, and in the distance there was the forlorn, eerie noise of a hooting owl. The search party's calls for Arya echoed amongst the trees while he walked. Isildur drew closer to the light he had seen, and he spotted figures standing amongst the trees, four of them, men by the look of them.

"Where's your wolf, girl?" asked the voice of one of the men.

"She ran off" said the small, but distinctively defiant voice of Arya, unseen behind the figures.

Isildur emerged from the trees into a small clearing, near to the roaring river. Four men stood in the clearing, two in the white armour and garb of the Kingsguard, two wearing the livery of House Lannister. Even from behind, Isildur could recognize the golden hair of Jaime Lannister.

"Good evening sers" Isildur said loudly, walking towards Arya. Her eyes flashed up towards him, she looked deeply relieved by his presence. The two Kingsguards and the Lannister soldiers whirled about to look at him sharply, watching him while he passed by to stand between them and Arya. The other Kingsguard was Meryn Trant, as Isildur identified him by his red beard and the cruel curl of his smirk. Jaime Lannister was fingering the hilt of his sword, and Isildur noted that Meryn Trant's hand was around the pommel of his sword.

Isildur locked eyes with Jaime, looking at the handsome, golden-haired knight intently. There was silence, but for the continued calls of Arya's name in the distance, and the chirping of insects all around them. Slowly, Isildur looked to each of the other men in turn, affixing them with his stern eyes, hard and grey as a steel blade. He was taller than any of them, as he was taller than almost everyone, and they had to look up to meet his eyes. It was Jaime Lannister that held his gaze the longest. It seemed to Arya, in that long silent moment, that it was as if there was an invisible line of smoldering fire drawn between the eyes of Isildur and Jaime, one that might burst into sudden flame at any moment. Long they held each other's gaze, as if each was studying the other, testing the other's will. At length, Jaime Lannister, still staring at Isildur intently, flashed his white, wolfish smile once again.

"Glad we found her and she's alright, might have gotten hurt out in these woods at night" Jaime said with a laugh as he and his men turned around and started back towards the inn. "I hope you know, my Lord Hand, that my sister the Queen has ordered her brought before the King directly" added Jaime offhandedly while he walked away.

It was only when they were out of sight that Isildur released his grip on Narsil's hilt.

"Come on little one, we best get you back to your father" Isildur said, and they started off through the woods, heading towards the sounds of Ned's voice calling through the trees. And while they walked, Arya told him what had happened. She and her friend, the butcher's boy Mycah, had been playing down by the river, fighting with sticks, when Sansa and Joffrey had come walking up to them. Joffrey challenged Mycah to a duel, drawing his sword, and when the butcher's boy failed to fight, he started to cut open his face with the tip of his sword. To save her friend, Arya had struck Joffrey with her stick, and only when Joffrey tried to hit her with his sword did Nymeria come to her rescue, biting his arm to save her. She called Nymeria off, and then threw his sword into the river.

Ned rushed to Arya and wrapped his arms around her protectively when Isildur had brought her to him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Arya repeated, over and over again, her words muffled as she buried her head in his tunic.

"Shh, it's alright, are you okay? You hurt?" Ned said, and Arya said she wasn't. In her father's arms, she looked very small.

"Ned, some Lannister men had found her before I did. The Queen has ordered her to be brought before the King directly" Isildur said. Arya looked up at her father with frightened eyes.

"What? What for? She's just a child" Eddard said, and followed it with several curses in a dark voice.

"Back! Back to the inn! Get back!" Ned roared out to his men, and Isildur followed him, heading back towards the inn. He could feel an apprehension growing in his mind about this night.

Eddard stormed into the inn when they reached the crossroads without even a word to his men. The common room had grown even more crowded than before, and many Stark and Dunedain men added to the press of people within. Despite the packed quarters, Ned pushed past the crowd with ease, and the men made a channel through their ranks for him.

At the end of the hall sat Robert, his face stony and impassive, and to his right stood the Queen and the Prince. There was nothing but naked loathing on Joffrey's face, Isildur noted, but the Queen was a different sort, and Isildur could read a cold fury in her.

Eddard stood in a hollow circle in the crowd before the King, as if he was in court. Arya stood behind him, and Isildur to the side, observing quietly.

"What's the meaning of this? Why would you order my daughter brought before you rather than to me?" Ned demanded.

"You dare speak like that to your King-" said Cersei.

"Quiet woman!" Robert silenced her "I'm sorry Ned, I never meant to frighten the girl, but we need to get this business done quickly"

'Never meant to, but you let it happen' Isildur thought, but he kept his peace.

"Your girl and her friend attacked my son, and that wolf of hers nearly ripped his arm off" said the Queen. At this Isildur raised an eyebrow, he had examined the wound himself, it was very far from being nearly ripped off.

"That's not true! She just bit him a little" Arya protested. Both Robert and Cersei looked taken aback that this young girl would speak back to the Queen herself. "He was hurting Mycah" she added.

"Joff told us what happened. He said you and that butcher's boy beat him with clubs and then she set her wolf on him" Cersei continued.

"That's not what happened!" Arya protested again.

"Yes it is! They all attacked me and then she threw my sword in the river!" Joffrey retorted.

"Liar!"

"Shut up!"

"ENOUGH!" the King roared, shocking them both into silence. "Seven Hells, she tells me one thing, he says another. What am I to make of this?"

"Your Grace" Isildur spoke for the first time since returning to the inn. "Perhaps if we get them both to tell their sides of the stories, the truth will reveal itself to us" he suggested.

"Aye. Both of you, one at a time, without interrupting the other, tell me what happened" Robert said.

First Arya recounted her tale, just as she had told it to Isildur before.

Then Joffrey told his own story, and it was much different, a tale of how he had been walking by the river with Sansa when Arya and the butcher's boy ambushed them from the bushes, beating him down with clubs before he could get his sword out, letting the wolf attack him and then throwing his sword into the river out of spite. As he spoke, Isildur began to extend his mind towards the Prince's, observing, seeking and finding, searching, perceiving, knowing, seeing through the words and the practiced face, seeing the truth of the matter. And as he spoke, Joffrey grew more and more visibly uncomfortable, fidgeting and squirming as he felt Isildur's will working upon him. Isildur kept his silence though, carefully watching the King's face as he took stock of their stories.

"Damn it, still she tells him one thing and him another. Your other daughter was there, where is she Ned?" Robert demanded.

"She's in bed, asleep" Ned replied defensively.

"Ah, she is not" said Cersei Lannister, her voice deceptively soft. "Sansa" she called gently towards the end of the hall "Come here little dove"

Despite everything, Isildur noted that Sansa had still taken the time to make herself lovely. Her hair, the reddish auburn of her Tully mother, had been brushed until it shone, and she wore a fine dress of pale green fabric. Around her shoulders was a fur-lined cloak, fastened with silver at her neck. The crowd made a path for her up towards the King and Queen, and Isildur noticed the fear in her eyes as she looked at the sworn swords and freeriders all around her. Despite that, she kept perfect posture, and she walked up to the King and curtsied. Her eyes were fixed on the Prince now, and Isildur could see the longing in them now.

'Damn' Isildur thought. He could see where this was going.

"Now, child, tell me what happened. Tell it all and tell it true. It's a grave crime to lie to a king" Robert commanded.

All eyes were on Sansa now, Isildur's, the King's, the Queen's, Joffrey's, Arya's, her father's, every man in the room watching her.

"I don't know" she said at last, hesitantly. "Everything happened so fast. I didn't see"

"LIAR!" Arya screamed, and then leapt up and seized her sister by the hair and began to pull, hard. With a squeal of pain, Sansa doubled over, her sister ripping at her long locks.

"LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" Arya shouted at the top of her lungs, enraged.

"Stop it! Arya!" Ned roared, pulling his daughters apart.

"She's as wild as that wolf of hers. I want her punished" the Queen said after Arya had released Sansa's hair. Cersei Lannister's smile was equal parts beautiful and cruel.

"Seven hells woman, what would you have me do? Whip her through the streets?" Robert asked, rhetorically. Wisely, the Queen kept her mouth shut.

Isildur made eye contact with Robert, steely Baratheon blue locking with stormy Dunedain grey. In a single look, Isildur understood. Robert had seen the same thing Isildur had.

"Your Grace" Isildur said "May I speak freely?"

"You may" Robert replied.

"Forgive me Your Grace, but I believe your son is lying to us"

"How dare" Cersei began, her tone full of anger.

"Quiet woman!" Robert cut her off immediately. He turned to his son. "Is that true Joffrey?"

Joffrey's silent shock was as good as a confession.

Robert looked at his son hard, and then turned back to Ned.

"Ned, discipline your daughter. I'll do the same for my son" he said.

"Gladly Your Grace" Ned replied.

Isildur felt a wave of relief wash over him as the King stood up from his chair and made to leave. It was not long lived however.

"And what of the direwolf?" Cersei said, quietly but maliciously. "What of the beast that mauled your son?"

"I had forgot the damn wolf" Robert said with a curse.

"We found no trace of the wolf Your Grace" said one of the Lannister men.

"We have another wolf" said the Queen. Her words seem to hang in the silence of the common room, ominously, like a grim omen.

"She doesn't mean Lady does she?" Sansa said at last, unbelieving. She was growing hysterical, tears welling in her eyes. "No! No! Lady didn't bite anyone, she's good!"

"Lady wasn't there! You leave her alone!" said Arya fiercely.

Robert glanced at Isildur.

"Don't punish the innocent Robert; you are a nobler man than that" Isildur said in a low voice, but not low enough for Cersei not to hear.

"So you take commands from these Dunedain?" Cersei snapped contemptuously.

"I take commands from no one, I am the King!" Robert snarled, and then cursed and looked back and forth between Isildur and Cersei. He turned his gaze towards Prince Joffrey.

"Boy, was the other direwolf there? Tell me the truth" he demanded. Joffrey lowered his eyes, unable to meet his father's gaze.

"No" the Prince admitted.

"There you have it, my lady. I shall not punish an animal that was not even present" Robert said with an air of finality, as if that settled the whole issue. The look on the Queen's face, however, plainly said that it was not. Wrathfully, both King and Queen stormed out of the common room, the royal family following in their wake, and the great crowd began to dissolve.

Isildur sighed; somehow the trepidation he felt in his heart had not disappeared. Nodding to Ned, he left the inn. The night air was cool on his face and the moon and stars were bright in the ink-dark sky. Even after three centuries in Westeros, the stars still looked strange to him. Isildur heard a clop of hooves on the cobbles of the road, and turning he saw Sandor Clegane, the Hound, on a tall dark horse. The Hound was covered in layers of dark grey plate, mail and boiled leather, battered and plain armour with no hint of heraldry or chivalry upon him. His greatsword was sheathed on his back. Across the front of his saddle was laid the body of a boy, thin and rangy, with red hair, bloodied and cut. Isildur recognized the corpse almost immediately.

"The butcher's boy?" Isildur said. "Why!?" he demanded in a roar.

"He ran" the Hound said, quietly, callously. "But not very fast"

Cursing the South and the Queen and the Lannisters and all, Isildur retired to his pavilion that night in a foul mood, and fell into a fitful sleep. Again he dreamed of his homeland, covered in snow, and the great icy wave crashing down upon it.

They had weeks yet upon the road before they reached King's Landing, and every step of the way was plagued by a new tension between the Starks and the Lannisters, and a gloomy air pervaded over the entire party as they rode finally into the Crownlands.

The royal demesne was fair and fertile, for being north of Shipbreaker Bay, the Crownlands were not wracked by storms, but rather basked in the warm air brought in by the sea. Despite the warning he felt in his heart, Isildur could not help but feel his spirits rise at the familiar, salty smell of the sea as they climbed the last hill of the journey. He could not see the city yet, but he could smell it, even from far off. The city had a great stench, the kind of stench produced only by hundreds of thousands of people living together in cramped quarters. Then Fleetfoot crested the hill, and Isildur set his eyes upon it at last: That beating heart of the Eight Kingdoms, that nest of snakes, that scheming hive of corruption and villainy, that unsightly royal heap, the city of King's Landing.

'Valar above, nothing has changed' Isildur thought, looking down upon the vast, sprawling capital. Much of it was just as he remembered from all the years of the Targaryen dynasty. There stood the Great Sept of Baelor, with its seven towers, atop Visenya's Hill. To the north was the Dragonpit, its once-great domed roof now collapsed, looming upon Rhaenys' Hill. Between and around and upon the hills, sprawled a vast, twisted, crowded city, their thatched roofs and shingled roofs freely intermixed, with half-timbered buildings of wood and stone and brick, many of them so ramshackle it would stun a Numenorean builder, and between them an occasional more stately manse. And there was more than that, for King's Landing was filled with taverns and storehouses, granaries and merchant's stalls, trading posts and brothels, all along the long, wide, tree-lined roads, or the winding, crooked streets, or the back alleys so narrow that a man could barely squeeze through. Dozens and dozens of quays and wharfs lined the waterfront, forming the havens of King's Landing. Out in Blackwater Rush and the Bay, the water was filled with fishing boats, ferries poling along, and merchantmen from the Free Cities. Isildur spotted a dozen slim, deadly, golden-hulled dromonds sitting at their docks. Above it all loomed a great frowning castle on Aegon's Hill, ringed with seven massive towers, surrounded by a mighty curtain wall, built ever upwards with rampart heaped upon rampart: the Red Keep.

The King's company rode towards the city from the northwest, approaching the Old Gate, one of the seven gates of King's Landing. Even from a distance, Isildur could hear the noise of the city. He heard the shouts and calls of merchants and fishmongers hawking their wares, the clatter of wagon wheels, the clop of hooves on cobblestone, and beneath it all, the persistent chatter of hundreds of thousands of people's voices.

Isildur examined the defenses of King's Landing with a critical eye as they approached the Old Gate. The gate itself was stout, with a portcullis and a strong wooden door barred with iron, and a squat, strong gatehouse that overlooked it with murder holes and arrow loops. The walls, on the other hand, left much to be desired for Isildur. Rather than a layered, concentric defense, such as the Numenoreans were accustomed to constructing, the walls of King's Landing was but a single curtain wall, of great height and thickness perhaps and dotted with tall towers, but Isildur doubted that it could hold a determined attacker for long, if they threw all their weight at any one point.

The new Hand of the King put these gloomy thoughts out of his head as he rode through the gate, his black banners fluttering above his head, and he entered King's Landing for the first time in sixteen years.

Looking down from far above the pomp and ceremony of the King and his Hand's entrance to the Red Keep, a man stood upon one of the many balconies of the Red Keep. Upon his chest, a silver broach in the shape of a mockingbird fixed his cloak about his shoulders. His grayish green eyes were fixed upon the white tree and silver stars of the Numenorean banner born behind the royal stag banner, in particular upon the white crescent moon that sat above the tree and stars.

"Observing the new player in our little game?" said a soft voice behind him. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he saw the portly, plump, powdered figure of Lord Varys approaching him soundlessly, hands tucked into the voluminous sleeves of his tunic.

"Yes, I'm sure you had nothing to do with our King's selection, didn't you?" said Lord Petyr Baelish.

"Me? Oh no, my Lord Baelish, I am a mere servant, I do not presume to command" Varys replied silkily. He came to stand next to Petyr upon the balcony, a soft hand on the bannister, looking down at the courtyard beneath them, watching the tall Numenoreans dismount from their tall horses.

"He is a rather impressive specimen, do you not agree? Almost as tall as his father, I am told, and his father is the tallest man in the Kingdoms" Varys said in his usual candid tone.

"A tidbit from your little birds?" Petyr asked.

"My little birds? Nay, my good Lord Baelish, I receive few tidbits from my little birds about those people, for very few of them have taken roost in the good realm of Gondor" replied Varys, turning his head towards Petyr with a faint smile.

"I'm sure. Then you know nothing about our new Lord Hand?" said Lord Baelish. Varys turned his eyes back down towards the Numenorean lord that strode across their courtyard, his faint smile still plastered on his face.

"Only what everyone knows" he said innocently. "He's tall, strong, stalwart, wise, honourable, courageous, and of course utterly ruthless to those who incur his wrath, like those poor, foolish Greyjoys"

Lord Baelish's face was an unreadable mask. Lord Varys folded his hands within his sleeves once again, and turned to depart, but then turned back, as if suddenly remembered something important.

"There is one thing you should be absolutely aware of at all times with this man, my good Lord Baelish" Varys said, suddenly serious.

"And that is?" Petyr asked.

"It is difficult to deceive this one. And perilous to those who try"


	5. Chapter V

**Author's Note: To help my readers, at the below url, I have a map of the Numenorean Realm-in-Exile, also known as Gondor, which was split off from the North in the time of Aegon the Conqueror. This map shows its borders, major strongholds and population centres, and should help readers better understand the geography of this story. Enjoy! Thanks to CJvR of Spacebattles forum for producing this map, it's way better than anything I could make! **

**And, as always, Game of Thrones and the Lord of the Rings are the intellectual properties of HBO, George R.R. Martin and the Tolkien Estate respectively. This is a non-profit fan-based work intended solely for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. Please support the official releases of these properties.  
**

image shack . us / f / 138 / gondor map . jpg/

(Remove the spaces to get to the map. Please inform me if you have an issues with getting the map. The text editing feature seems to treat addresses a little bit strangely. )

**Chapter V  
The Forests of Qohor**

When he was a young child, Valandil's lord father often told him of the great majesty and beauty of the mallorn trees that had grown in the western provinces of Numenor, a gift to the Dunedain from the Eldar. In his youth, he had often dreamt of seeing a real mallorn, with its mighty silver trunk and golden blossoms. The great trees of the Forest of Qohor did not equal the mellyrn of his dreams, but still his heart was joyed to ride amongst the vast, wild, beautiful forest. He rode beneath a sun-lit golden canopy, along trails dappled with light streaming through the leaves above. Across the back of his saddle was slung a deer fawn's carcass. It lay limply across Velo's haunches, secured to the saddle by ropes, with a single puncture wound in its neck. Valandil was simply dressed for his hunt, clad in a green tunic with brown trousers, and his grey cloak secured around his shoulders, hood down, his head bare. His silver eagle broach glinted in the sunbeams of the forest.

All was silence while he rode. He was some distance from the khalasar yet, he judged. The approach of Drogo's horde had driven all animal life away in its path, he had had to ride far from the khalasar to find game. One arrow shot from a steelbow at a hundred paces had dispatched the fawn easily enough, but getting it back to the khalasar for the khaleesi's dinner was rather a more time-consuming task. Breathing deep of the fresh forest air, Valandil spurred Velo to a light trot down the trail. The gelding was surefooted and swiftly passed amongst the trees at a brisk pace.

The air was warm, the sun was shining, but as he rode Valandil found himself filled with thoughts. It had been some time since he had last written a letter to his family. _Since Braavos at least… I should have sent them something in Pentos _he thought. He had felt trapped in Minas Ithil, yet he could not help but miss his family. He missed Aratan, his constant companion in the sparring yard or on the hunt. He missed Ciryon, bright-eyed and quick to mirth, and even grave Elendur, who had always been the wisest just as he was the eldest. He missed dour, ever-faithful Ohtar, and his crooked, oft-broken nose. He missed his lord father Isildur with his booming laugh and kindly smiles. He missed all of Elendur and Ciryon's children, his nephews and nieces. _I left to see the world, and found that I miss my home more and more every day, despite the wondrous places I have seen _he mused. _I left in search of adventure, in search of a cause for my sword, and what have I found? A boy who calls himself a king, heir only to a toppled dynasty of madmen… If only his sister had been born elder, or born a man. Yet I swore an oath, and I cannot throw that aside. Nor can I abandon a friend, and Jorah is a good friend and true. Perhaps though, with the counsel of a Numenorean, these Targaryens may be shown the path of wisdom. There were fair and just Targaryens kings once, it may be that there shall be again. _

There had been a singing of birds amongst the gold-clad branches, but it soon disappeared. As he rode, Valandil heard the sounds of the khalasar drifting closer through the air. There was the steady clop of thousands of hooves, and beneath it the relentless, neverending tramping feet of the thralls. Drawing closer, the smell of the khalasar wafted through the trees. A smell of sweat, horseflesh and manure, thick,and overbearing. Valandil nudged Velo into a brisker trot. He was close now, the khalasar could not be far.

"Who goes!?" cried a voice in the harsh tongue of the Dothraki. Valandil reined his horse in as the brush to his right erupted with a trio of Dothraki, arakhs and bows in hand, mounted atop large, snorting horses. Out-riders, the picquets of the khalasar, deployed ahead and on all sides of the main column to ensure the khalasar could not be ambushed… And to search for foes or plunder.

"Thorongil!" Valandil shouted, putting up a hand. "It's Thorongil! Friend!" he added in what little of the Dothraki speech he knew.

The foremost rider studied Valandil's face closely, almond-shaped eyes flicking across Valandil's features and down to the carcass secured by his saddle. He exchanged a few words with his fellow riders, and then waved Valandil on. Nodding to the out-riders, Valandil spurred his horse on.

It was only a short time before he finally rejoined the horde.

The vast main column of Drogo's horde stretched out as far as the eye could see in either direction. Jorah had told him that it numbered over forty thousand warriors, and Valandil believed it. Forty thousand riders, and their families and children, their slaves and thralls, and many camp followers beside it all. Over a hundred thousand people welded together by the strength and will of Khal Drogo, and all on the move. There was great power in this khalasar, Valandil could tell. This was the great tidal wave of men and horses which Viserys Targaryen intended to use to engulf the Eight Kingdoms and reclaim his father's throne. With this vast force, Viserys would bring fire and slaughter, terror and war upon the kingdoms of the West. And yet, Valandil noted, they marched east in accordance with Dothraki custom, not west following Viserys' will.

Reining Velo around, Valandil rejoined the khalasar's line of march. Two of the slaves immediately began to unburden his horse, untying the fawn's carcass from his saddle. In broken Dothraki, Valandil told them that the venison was for the khaleesi tonight, and the slaves both nodded silently. The slaves of the Dothraki were always silent to him, he had noticed, like dogs that had been beaten too much and cringed at the mere sight of people. _Poor souls _he thought sadly _Children of Iluvatar deserve better than thralldom. _

Valandil reflected on the two Targaryens while he rode up the column at a leisurely walk, looking for his wards. It had been over a month since he had come into their service as their protector, and he was beginning to know them very well.

The elder was Viserys Targaryen, the Third of His Name, and the self-styled rightful Lord of the Eight Kingdoms, though more men knew him as the Beggar King. Viserys was a proud man that much Valandil knew for sure. He was proud, ambitious and looked back on a mighty heritage that stretched back for centuries, yet he was also impatient and swift to anger. He called his wrath "waking the dragon". _The dragon is a light sleeper _Valandil mused, thinking on the many times he had had to speak soft words of counsel to the would-be king, to avoid his anger over this or that foolish thing. He seemed to have utterly no regard for the Dothraki who he intended to use as his army. With every passing day, Valandil could see Viserys' frustration continue to grow at their eastward march, and with frustration came his temper and its inevitable foolishness. _He will undermine all his ambitions by himself if I do not stop him. Perhaps I should help him fail; even if he was not in exile he would not be kinglike. But he may yet become so, he is young, and he has not been given the counsel that a king needs. Alas, were Elendur here, surely he could show this man to the path of wisdom. Iluvatar willing, I must help him. _

His sister, on the other hand, was a different matter. Daenerys Targaryen, whom some named Stormborn, and Drogo's khaleesi. On the day of her wedding to Drogo, Valandil had seen her as a meek, young girl, newly come to womanhood, terrified of her husband, his people, her brother and everything about her new life it seemed. Yet, with every passing day on their ride into the east, she seemed to grow. There was an inner fire kindled in her, and her strength and confidence seemed to wax amongst the Dothraki. She took to their garb and learning their language with far greater ease than her brother, who still clung to his tattered tunics and cloaks from Pentos. Valandil could see her finding her place amongst these savage people in a way that her brother simply could not.

It was her brother that Valandil spotted first as he rode up the column. He wore a dark cloak, once fine but now travel-stained and mud-spattered. His long silver-blond hair was greasy and unwashed, slicked back on his head. He glanced at Valandil over his shoulder when he came to ride next to him. Viserys' eyes were hard and purple as a lilac, deep set in a gaunt, lined face. His customary sneer was set on his lips before Valandil said even a word.

"Thorongil" he said, without greeting.

"Your Grace" Valandil replied courteously. He knew that Viserys flew into a rage when he was being improperly addressed.

"I trust you found game for tonight, I weary of Dothraki horsemeat" Viserys said.

"Aye Your Grace, venison, I brought a fawn for the khaleesi's supper tonight" Valandil replied, and then immediately wished he had phrased it differently.

"My supper, you mean. What is hers is also mine" Viserys said sharply. Valandil resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes Your Grace" he said.

Amongst the trees of the forest, Valandil was surrounded by the songs of birds and insects. The forest seemed too quiet riding with the khalasar. He could hear only the neighing and whickering of horses, the calls in harsh Dothraki, and above all the incessant tramping of tens of thousands of feet and hooves. Valandil hated riding with the khalasar, the eyes of the slaves were miserable and downcast whenever he looked at them. He felt his heart sink to see so many, held in such appalling bondage. Whenever they looked at him, which they seldom did, their eyes were full of fear.

To his left and right, front and back, there were Dothraki riders. They had a certain admirable savage courage, he had to admit, and some had nobility in their own way. Despite their virtues though, Valandil couldn't stand them. He couldn't stand the arrogant disdain with which they looked at anyone not of their kind, he couldn't stand the bow-legged strut they affected when dismounted, and he couldn't stand their violence, their crudeness and their cruelty. The night of the wedding, he had saved some poor girl from the attentions of Dothraki riders, yet as their ride east wore on, he had come to realize that he could not stop all of their cruelties. He could not even stop any significant amount of their cruelties. It was a hard truth to accept.

Shouted commands came down the column, and suddenly the whole khalasar ground to a halt.

"What is it? Why are we stopping?" Viserys demanded loudly.

"Khaleesi say stop" said one of the riders in a halting, heavily accented version of the Common tongue.

"What!? She dares to command me!?" snapped Viserys. His hand went to the hilt of his sword and his purple eyes flashed in anger.

"Your Grace" Valandil said, bringing his horse up close to Viserys' mount "Patience, my King, this delay shall not be long"

"Patience? Patience!? The dragon takes no commands! The dragon waits for no man!" Viserys said.

"But a King knows the value of a patient mind, Your Grace. You have been waiting your whole life to take back your throne, my King, a short wait such as this surely would not try the patience of a king such as you" Valandil answered. _I must be truthful, I must tell him what he needs to hear, but I must still flatter his ego or else he shall never listen to counsel and he will be lost. _

It seemed to be working. Viserys' hand strayed away from his sword hilt.

"I suppose she only commands these savages, I may ride on if I please" he said.

"Of course Your Grace, or wait for your sister's men to continue on if it please you" said Valandil. "Worry yourself not my King, I shall find out what is the reason for this halt"

"Yes Thorongil, go on ahead and find out for me. Tell them the dragon king wishes to proceed" Viserys said, his tone growing commanding and his chin raising.

_Just takes the right tone with this one. Perhaps he shall learn something yet_ Valandil thought, setting the spurs to Velo and cantering forward up the column.

Much farther up the column, Valandil found Jorah, Daenerys' handmaidens and the warriors of her khas. Valandil glanced towards the lean, lethal-looking riders that were sworn to Daenerys' own household. His lord father had had a similar group of knights sworn to his house. In Gondor such men were known as housecarls.

An east wind was whispering in the leaves. Jorah looked to Valandil as he brought Velo to a halt. The Bear Islander wore only a white tunic, open at his throat, and brown riding breeches. His sword hung from his saddle. His face was flushed, and there was a light sheen of sweat on his balding head and his hairy arms and chest.

"Hail Ser Jorah" said Valandil, raising a hand in greeting "The 'dragon king' wonders what the delay is?"

"Dragon king" Jorah repeated, chuckling. "Thorongil, you know as well as I that he is less than the shadow of a snake"

"Perhaps, yet it is said even the merest grass-snake may grow into a mighty wyrm with time" Valandil replied. He did not tell Jorah that his father had told him that saying to warn him against underestimating a potential foe.

"Would that that could be true, but I fear Viserys is even less than a grass-snake" said Jorah with a shake of his balding head.

"In any case, he wishes to continue on immediately. Where is the princess?"

"She wished to walk in the forest a little, to stretch her legs" Jorah answered, nodding towards the forest to the right of the trail.

As if she had heard them, the khaleesi soon appeared from the brush. She was so young, yet Valandil was not made of stone like his uncle or steel like his father, he could not deny Daenerys Targaryen's beauty. Her once-pale skin was growing more and more golden, tanned by the sun each day, vividly contrasting with the violet of her eyes. She wore her white-golden hair long now, and she was dressed in the Dothraki fashion, with a horsehide vest and breeches. She had taken off her sandals to walk on the mossy forest floor with dainty bare feet.

"Thorongil" she said with a polite, kind smile "It is a pleasant surprise to see you. Are you not guarding my brother today?"

"Aye my Princess, the King merely inquires as to the reason for our delay" he replied. Her smile fell from her face.

"Oh… Have I done wrong? I have woken the dragon, haven't I?" Daenerys asked, her voice ashamed, almost fearful.

_Waking the dragon. What a ridiculous term for wrath_ Valandil thought.

"Nay Princess" he lied "Your brother the King is just anxious to continue on"

"Very well Ser Thorongil, we shall go on. Ser Jorah, tell them that the khaleesi wishes to continue now" Dany said with a sigh, slipping her sandals back on and then lacing them back up.

One of her handmaidens dismounted and help Daenerys up onto her silver mare, which stood quietly and demurely as its rider swung up onto it. The handmaiden then smoothly mounted her own horse once again. Though he had been riding with the Dothraki for weeks now, Valandil still found himself surprised that women in the khalasar did not ride side-saddle as women in Gondor did. It took more than a little getting used to women of the Dothraki, for they were an odd study in contrasts. The ladies of Gondor that Valandil had known at home were proud, dignified women, educated and spirited, a match for the will of any Numenorean man, but they took care to dress themselves in a lady-like fashion. The women of the Dothraki, in comparison, dressed in the same breeches and vests as the Dothraki men, and rode as the men did, but were not afforded the same courtesies or respect as the women of Gondor were.

Ser Jorah shouted a few words in the Dothraki tongue, and then other Dothraki took up the shout up and down the column of the khalasar. With much shouting and the thumping of thousands of hooves on hard-packed earth, Khal Drogo's horde began to move once again. Bidding farewell to Jorah and Daenerys, Valandil turned Velo around and made his way to his charge.

Their journey through the forests of Qohor lasted for another fortnight. Each day, Valandil rode far afield of the khalasar, the black arrows of his steelbow taking elk, deer and pig for the supper of the khaleesi and the King each night. Alone and away from the Dothraki, beneath those golden boughs Valandil's heart was light. As he rode back to the horde each day, he would sing for joy in the tongues of Elves and Numenoreans alike. He sang until he reached the pickets of the khalasar, and then would sing no more so as not to draw too much attention amongst the superstitious Dothraki. Amongst the khalasar, he would ride beside Viserys for the most part, though on some lucky days he and Jorah would agree to trade off. On the whole, he found Daenerys' company more pleasant, her conversation more engaging, but Valandil knew that it was Viserys who needed his counsel more direly. The boy king could talk of nothing except "the Usurpers" as he called them, and how "the Dragon" would take his vengeance against them. Viserys would often speak of rapacious Robert Baratheon, whose greed and fury were unquenchable, and icy Eddard Stark with his cold eyes and frozen heart, and arrogant, ageless Isildur the traitor. It took all of Valandil's willpower to not strike Viserys for his insults to his father, but he managed to keep himself from loudly correcting his King. Having known all the men that Viserys spoke of, Valandil could tell that the King truly knew nothing about them.

Each night, Valandil would seek out Jorah after the khalasar had made camp. He and his friend would join one of the fires of the Dothraki warriors, and they would eat, talk and drink late into the night. Then Valandil would smoke a pipe, and then find a soft patch of forest floor to sleep on, and fall to a sound slumber beneath the stars.

Then one evening, near to the end of their time in the forest of Qohor, as Valandil and Jorah sat talking and jesting by a fire, one of the khaleesi's handmaidens came to them. She was the shorter, more finely featured one, Irri if Valandil recalled her name correctly.

"Khaleesi wish you come eat with her tonight" Irri said. Jorah and Valandil exchanged a confused look, they had not been summoned to the khaleesi's company before.

"Aye, we shall gladly" Jorah said, standing.

Valandil stood and followed Jorah, whilst the handmaiden led them through the camp to Daenerys' tent. It was a respectable sized tent of hide, and a thin plume of smoke rose from the top. Passing through the entrance of the tent, they found the inside was thick with the smell of fire, smoke and roasting meat. In the centre of the main space of the tent was a cooking fire, and above it was spitted the boar that Valandil had shot that day. Daenerys' other handmaiden was slowly turning the spit while the boar roasted, grease running over the crispy skin as it cooked. In a circle around the edges of the main space, were cushions, benches and stools. At the far end of the tent was Daenerys herself, looking as radiant as ever, her long hair oiled and seeming to glow golden in the dim light. All around her were a few of her sworn warriors. They looked at Jorah and Valandil with curious, unreadable black eyes. Daenerys looked up when they entered, a small smile on her face.

"Ser Jorah, Ser Thorongil, it is good to see you! I was wondering if you might like to join us to eat tonight, it seemed the least I could do after you have brought all this game to us this past fortnight" Dany said.

"It would be our honour, khaleesi" Jorah said with a humble bow, and Valandil matched it. They were bid to sit on the right side of Daenerys, amongst her Dothraki guardians, whilst her own handmaidens sat at her left and right hand.

The fare was simple, as most Dothraki food was, and accompanied only by the fermented mare's milk preferred by the horselords. The boar was divine, roasted to perfection and covered with herbs. Still, Valandil could not help feeling a little out of place. Jorah and the Dothraki talked and jested back and forth in the Dothraki tongue, and what they were saying Valandil could not guess. Despite that, it was hard not to feel welcome amongst the laughing, smiling, surprisingly friendly Dothraki. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that such men were capable of the cruelties the Dothraki were known for.

"Jorah the Andal" said one of Daenerys' riders, the one known as Rakharo, in his heavily accented Common Tongue "You are from Sunset Kingdoms, yes?"

"Aye, and Thorongil as well" Jorah replied.

"Tho-Ron-Gil" said another of the riders, Aggo "Strange name"

"A-g-oh. Strange name" Valandil retorted, and they both shared a chuckle.

"Tell me, Jorah the Andal, how they fight in Westlands?" Rakharo said, leaning forward intently. Jorah scratched his bearded chin thoughtfully.

"Well different men have different methods. For my part, I prefer this" Jorah said, and then in one smooth motion he drew forth his sword. It was not an ornate weapon, but the blade was castle-forged steel, long, double-edged and sharp tipped, with a steel crossguard and a hilt wrapped in leather for grip. Unlike Valandil's sword, Jorah's blade was one-handed. He held it deftly in one hand, and then lowered it so the tip sat lightly in the ground and the flat of the blade rested against his leg.

"Straight. Not like arakh." Rakharo said, picking up his scimitar. He placed the long, sickle-like blade next to Jorah's arming sword. Jorah took it from him and held the arakh up to the firelight.

"Yes, on horseback the curved blade is better. Handles easier in the saddle, delivers a more powerful cut" he said, running his finger along the inner, unsharpened edge of the scimitar. Jorah put it back down and then held his own sword up again. "But in Westeros, where men are protected by steel, the arakh's cut won't penetrate, so the straight blade has the advantage, as it can thrust through gaps in the armour or the visors of helmets". He sheathed his sword again.

"Dothraki do not wear steel dresses" Rakharo said.

"Armour" corrected Jorah.

"Armour… This makes man slow?" asked Rakharo.

"Perhaps a little, but it keeps you alive"

"Oh enough of this war talk, I hear enough of that from my brother" Daenerys said, frustrated "How about a song? Irri?"

At her words, Irri began to sing a high, keening song in the Dothraki tongue. Despite knowing little Dothraki, Valandil could pick out words like "trample" and "burn" in her song. Daenerys waved her hand at Irri and the handmaiden stopped.

"No, thank you Irri, but no, I am so tired of songs about maiming and killing and raping. Ser Jorah, Ser Thorongil, have you any songs from the Eight Kingdoms? A song about Aemon the Dragonknight or Florian and Jonquil?" asked Dany. Jorah only chuckled.

"I'm afraid my voice isn't one for singing the great songs, khaleesi" Jorah said apologetically.

"And you Thorongil?" Dany said.

"I confess my Princess, those songs are not known to me, but I do know a song that might be to your liking. A… friend from Gondor taught me the song of Beren and Luthien Tinuviel" Valandil replied. Daenerys' purple eyes seemed to glint with curiosity, and she sat forward a little on her seat.

"A song from Gondor? I have never heard any" she said.

"The folk of Gondor keep to themselves my Princess, but I spent some time in that realm, and this song I learned. Unfortunately, I haven't the old Elvish tongue to sing it as a Numenorean might" Valandil lied. He felt like his lie was utterly transparent, but Dany and her Dothraki companions seemed to accept it"

"However, in the Common Tongue, it runs like this:" he said, and then he began to chant, slowly and melodiously, as his father used to on cold winter nights by the fire in Minas Ithil:

"The leaves were long, the grass was green,  
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,  
And in the glade a light was seen  
Of stars in shadow shimmering.  
Tinúviel was dancing there  
To music of a pipe unseen,  
And light of stars was in her hair,  
And in her raiment glimmering.

There Beren came from mountains cold,  
And lost he wandered under leaves,  
And where the Elven-river rolled  
He walked alone and sorrowing.  
He peered between the hemlock-leaves  
And saw in wonder flowers of gold  
Upon her mantle and her sleeves,  
And her hair like shadow following.

Enchantment healed his weary feet  
That over hills were doomed to roam;  
And forth he hastened, strong and fleet,  
And grasped at moonbeams glistening.  
Through woven woods in Elvenhome  
She lightly fled on dancing feet,  
And left him lonely still to roam  
In the silent forest listening.

He heard there oft the flying sound  
Of feet as light as linden-leaves,  
Or music welling underground,  
In hidden hollows quavering.  
Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves,  
And one by one with sighing sound  
Whispering fell the beechen leaves  
In the wintry woodland wavering.

He sought her ever, wandering far  
Where leaves of years were thickly strewn,  
By light of moon and ray of star  
In frosty heavens shivering.  
Her mantle glinted in the moon,  
As on a hill-top high and far  
She danced, and at her feet was strewn  
A mist of silver quivering.

When winter passed, she came again,  
And her song released the sudden spring,  
Like rising lark, and falling rain,  
And melting water bubbling.  
He saw the elven-flowers spring  
About her feet, and healed again  
He longed by her to dance and sing  
Upon the grass untroubling.

Again she fled, but swift he came.  
Tinuviel! Tinuviel!  
He called her by her elvish name;  
And there she halted listening.  
One moment stood she, and a spell  
His voice laid on her: Beren came,  
And doom fell on Tinuviel  
That in his arms lay glistening.

As Beren looked into her eyes  
Within the shadows of her hair,  
The trembling starlight of the skies  
He saw there mirrored shimmering.  
Tinuviel the elven-fair,  
Immortal maiden elven-wise,  
About him cast her shadowy hair  
And arms like silver glimmering.

Long was the way that fate them bore,  
O'er stony mountains cold and grey,  
Through halls of iron and darkling door,  
And woods of nightshade morrowless.  
The Sundering Seas between them lay,  
And yet at last they met once more,  
And long ago they passed away  
In the forest singing sorrowless."

The last word of the song died, leaving silence in the tent, broken by the crackling of the fire. Dany was looking at Valandil intently with her violet eyes.

"That was… wonderful Thorongil, I never knew a sellsword to have such a voice. Do you know any more about this tale, this Beren and Luthien?" Dany asked. Valandil smiled, feeling almost bashful.

"Alas my Princess, I fear that song does not equal how I heard it sung in Gondor" he said. "I know only little of the lore of the Numenoreans, but I know that Beren was a mortal man, and Luthien was an immortal elf-maiden, and forbidden was their love because of this. They say that Luthien was the daughter of an elf-king, and she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and that they endured much sorrow and many trials before they could be wed, and their love was a tragic one, for she had to give up the immortal life of the elves to be with him. Beyond that, I know little more. The men of Gondor are a quiet bunch, they keep to themselves and tell little of their lore to outsiders"

"It is a stupid tale" declared Aggo with a note of finality in his voice.

"What? Why? I thought it rather beautiful" Dany said.

"Khaleesi, if Beren chase this women, he need only take horse to catch her. Only a fool chase on foot. Beren is stupid" Aggo explained. Valandil burst out laughing.

"I suppose that's a point the old elf-poets didn't think of" he said between laughs.

"My lord" said the third of Daenerys' handmaids, a fair-haired young Lysene girl named Doreah "What is an 'elf'?" she asked shyly.

"In the lore of Gondor, the elves were an ancient race that is much like men, but… Greater. They say they are immortal, unless slain, wiser and stronger than any men, but just as they are greater, they also fall lower, and both their joy and their sorrow is deeper than mortal men, for the elves forget nothing. They dwell not in this part of the world, though the men of Gondor say that they once visited their homelands. They were beautiful… I am told" Valandil said, his voice distant.

He stared into the fire, melancholy. He and his brothers had all been born of Westeros; they did not have the memories of their fair homeland across the Sunset Sea as their father did. He had always wanted to meet an elf, one of the fair elf-lords or ladies that once visited his grandfather in Andunie, but his lord father had told him that no elves dwelt in these lands, or none that he knew of. Westeros and Essos were the lands of men, they bore no sign of the dwelling of elves, for no land forgets the elves if ever they dwelt there.

One of Daenerys' warriors, the thin, lithe one named Jhogo, made a hacking noise in his throat and then spit on the ground.

"I spit on Gondor and its tales. It is good they are trapped across the poison water, they are warlocks who cast spells on men's minds" Jhogo said, wrinkling his nose.

"It is known" agreed Jhiqui.

"I have never been there" said Daenerys "But some day my brother will rule Gondor and the rest of the Eight Kingdoms, and then I will know whether they are truly so evil or not"

Valandil kept his peace and said not a word, staring intently at the flickering fire.

"On that day, khaleesi, I hope your brother khal is wise enough to trample warlocks to dust" Jhogo said.

As the night deepened, Daenerys thanked Valandil and Jorah for their company, and then bidding them goodnight, retired to sleep. Her handmaidens stayed in the same tent as her, but her warriors along with Jorah and Valandil departed to find their own place to sleep for the night. As soon as Jhogo, Aggo and Rakharo were out of sight, Jorah suddenly pulled Valandil aside, in the darkness between two of the Dothraki tents.

"Who are you?" he demanded in a low, urgent voice.

"What?" Valandil said, confused.

"Dúnadan, I have travelled with you for many miles, you've never revealed your identity to me, and I've never asked out of respect for you, but after that display, I want to know now before I keep any more secrets: Who are you? No common sellsword, even a Numenorean, would know such ancient tales and lore and speak and sing as you do. Who are you?" Jorah pressed.

Valandil regarded his friend with his grey eyes. There was no other way to say, so he said it.

"I am Valandil Isildur's son. Valandil Isildurion of the House of Elendil" he said.

Jorah's face paled with shock.

"Valandil? The grandson of the Kingmaker himself? I don't believe that, you're lying" said Jorah, and then saw the intent seriousness on Valandil's face.

"Seven hells, you mean it? What in the name of gods old and new would bring a son of Isildur here? As a sellsword of all things? Your father helped overthrow the Targaryens, what are you doing-"

"Shh, keep your voice down." Valandil hissed, seizing Jorah by the shoulders "Listen Jorah, I know what my father did. I know what it has cost my family. And I can see hope for a better future… If the Targaryen boy is counseled properly. He mustn't know who I am. You have heard how he speaks about my lord father, and you know what the Dothraki think of my people. If I am found out, everything I am hoping for is lost"

"Seven hells Valandil or Thorongil or Strider, or whatever your bloody name is, how foolish are you? How long do you think you can keep up this mummer's farce?" Jorah asked angrily. "Viserys is a fool, but his sister isn't stupid, and neither are the Dothraki. You keep carrying on like this, you will be discovered, and the Khal will not look kindly on one of your kind in his horde, nor will Viserys look kindly on the son of one of the usurpers travelling next to him"

Valandil released Jorah, realizing that his grip had become viselike. He turned away, hanging his head.

"I know this, and so I must ask you to keep my secret Jorah." Valandil said. There was a long moment of silence, and then he was surprised to feel Jorah clap him on the back.

"As you wish. Though I frown on the deception, I feel you must have good reason. We must talk though, we must have a very long talk"

They found a dwindling fire unattended by the edge of the camp, surrounded by gloomy forest, a fair distance from the rest of the khalasar so as not to be overheard. Jorah brought a skin of wine from his own baggage that he had been saving, and they passed it back and forth as they built up the fire to a merry blaze. There was long silence between them as Valandil stared at the flames, wondering where to start, and Jorah waited for him to explain himself. Finally Jorah spoke:

"So why did you leave Gondor?"

Valandil sighed

"My father changed after the rebellion. Not Robert's, the Greyjoy rebellion. You remember it?" he said.

"Aye. I was one of Ned Stark's bannermen then, and he had called the banners to help King Robert put down that upstart Balon Greyjoy. Never made it to Pyke though, your father smashed the Greyjoys into dust before we could. The whole realm was shocked by what Isildur did" Jorah replied.

"I-I did it too Jorah. All my brothers and I, we were right there alongside my father, we fought too" Valandil said, hanging his head.

"Why?" asked the Bear Islander. Valandil was silent for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was choked and broken.

"My mother and grandmother, they often travelled in the south during the summers, they loved the Arbor and the fields of the Reach. They were to return to Gondor by ship from Lannisport… When the ironmen attacked. Many years ago, far before you were born Jorah, the ironmen had sworn an oath of friendship to my grandfather. When they burned the Lannister fleet, my mother and grandmother were taken captive… They endured great cruelties before their deaths, they were-" He stopped, unwilling to say the word before he finally spat it out :"Defiled" he said.

His mood seemed to change suddenly, and he looked up at Jorah with fiery eyes.

"Oathbreakers, murderers, betrayers" he said spitefully, face full of hate. Then the shadow seemed to pass from Valandil, and he hung his head again.

"Led by my father, we sailed to the Iron Islands, with the whole White Fleet behind us. We sent their fleet down to the deeps, but Balon Greyjoy, his brother Victarion and a few of their bannermen escaped, though his brother Aeron was sent down to their drowned god. We pursued them to Pyke, we stormed and..." he stopped again, and then looked back to Jorah intently, intensely.

"We killed them all Jorah. My father killed everyone" he whispered "I saw my father drive his sword through Balon's heart, I saw my eldest brother slay Victarion in single combat, my brothers and I killed Balon's sons, and my father, who I had thought was the best of men… I saw him turn his blade on Balon's own wife. Only two Greyjoys are left now Jorah. Theon and Yara. I was the one who found them, scared and alone, in a bedchamber. The blood of their kin was still fresh on my sword, but those two scared little children, looking at me with those dark, terrified eyes, I finally found mercy inside myself, I gave them mercy when my father surely would have slain them. It was only afterwards that we learned that another had escaped, that scum Euron slipped through our fingers" He finished in anger. Valandil took a deep breath, as if to calm himself.

"My father changed after that. He has a wrath in him, deep down inside, smoldering away, ready to burst into flame at any moment. None of us spoke of what happened at Pyke to anyone, not even to each other. My father and brothers seemed to want to forget it even happened, but I could not. I had to escape that, find something, find some cause, something that might erase my shame" finished the son of Isildur. Jorah regarded him with steady eyes, not unkindly.

"So here you are" Jorah said. Valandil couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.

"Yes, here I am, hoping to restore a rightful heir to his throne, perhaps to make him better than his father" Valandil replied. Jorah sighed.

"If you hold to that cause, my friend, then I will help you however I can. I will keep your identity a secret, though I know not how long you will be able to hide it if you keep carrying on as you have" Jorah said. Valandil couldn't hold back a smile as he looked up at the Andal.

"Thank you. You are a true friend, Jorah Mormont, and I swear I shan't forget it" Valandil told him, and he meant it. "But now, since you know all my secrets, I wish to know: What has brought you here?"

Jorah grimaced: "An expensive wife, little money and a longing for home"

"Tell me"

Jorah exhaled deeply, and his face became very still. Firelight reflected in his brown eyes.

"Lynesse Hightower was her name. After your father crushed the Greyjoys, the Lannisters held a great tourney in Lannisport" he said.

"I remember the invitation when we put in to Lannisport to resupply. We had no taste for it though after what we had done, and we sailed home rather than stay for it" Valandil replied. Jorah chuckled despite himself.

"Oh yes, they say that little rebuke ruffled Tywin Lannister's mane greatly" Jorah said, but the jollity quickly passed and his mood grew grim again.

"My father had gone to the Night's Watch, I was the new young Lord of Bear Island, and the Northern forces were already in the South mustering for an attack on the Iron Islands when we learned that Pyke had fallen to Lord Isildur and Balon Greyjoy was dead. Lord Stark and most of the other bannermen started north again, but I was eager to prove myself, so I went to this southron tourney. That's when I met her: Lynesse Hightower, the daughter of Lord Leyton Hightower. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life; I fell for her then and there. She gave me her favour to wear and, by all the gods, I won" he continued.

"You won against?" Valandil asked.

"All of them" Jorah explained with a slight smile "Bronze Yohn, Lord Whent, the Strongboar, Ryman and Hosteen Frey, Lord Jason Mallister, even the Kingslayer himself. I broke nine lances on Lannister's shield to win the joust. I won myself a knighthood for it. I named Lynesse the Queen of Love and Beauty. That night, drunk on victory and glory and far too much southern wine, I asked her father for her hand in marriage. To my astonishment, he agreed, we were wed, and for a while we were happy as we traveled back to Bear Island. When we got there however…" Jorah paused, lost in memory. Valandil said nothing, and a heavy silence filled the air as he waited for his friend to continue.

"My island is rich in bears, lumber, fish and stone. However, Lynesse did not like it. She hated living in a log hall, she hated the cold, and she was terrified of the forest and the bears. It was nothing like the rich southern life she had known. I tried to keep her happy, I showered her with gifts, brought singers and performers from the Free Cities, tried to recreate the life she was used to in the north, but I had never been rich, and the expense was too much to bear. I got so deep in debt, all I wanted was to keep her happy, and then I caught some poachers on my land. Out of desperation I sold them to slavers" Jorah said.

"You sold men into thralldom?" Valandil said sharply, shocked and disguted.

"Aye, to my lasting shame" Jorah replied with a grimace "Now Ned Stark wants my head, and here I am, thousands of leagues from my home and everything I love"

Valandil felt his anger subside seeing his friend hang his head in deep regret. He thought back on Ned Stark, the cool, quiet second son he had known on visits many years ago to Winterfell, and the thought of the implacable, relentless, quietly efficient warrior and commander he became on the battlefields of Robert's Rebellion. A good man, no man could doubt his honour or his justice, but Valandil knew that as sympathetic as Ned might be to Jorah's plight, Ned would hold to the law, and Ned would swing the sword himself.

"Where is your wife now?" Valandil asked, more gently.

"In another place, with another man" Jorah said, looking up, a hard edge to his voice, his words bitter and cold.

"The Targaryens might be my only chance for a pardon, just as they are your hope for redemption" finished Jorah.

"Then we best make Viserys into more than the worm he is" Valandil said with a small grin. Jorah looked at him and chuckled.

"Aye, I think they shall call him Viserys the Unlikely. Aegon the Unlikely ruled well enough, perhaps we may yet kill the boy in Viserys and let the man be born" said Jorah. Valandil was pensive as he replied:

"His fate shall be his own doing, yet we may yet counsel him to change his ways. All we can do is counsel and hope, though it is a fool's hope"

The next morning came after a light, fitful sleep for Valandil. His dreams had been dark after his talk with Jorah the previous night. He had dreamt that he was back in Pyke, the blood of the Greyjoys dripping from his blade, opening the door to the bedchamber with the two children inside. In the dream, however, he advanced on them, and against his will raised his sword to strike. The children laughed, and grew, and shed their skin, becoming vast, twisted, inhuman beasts with staring eyes, gnashing beaks and a forest of grasping arms, breaking the roof of the castle above them as they grew. Krakens, just like their sigil. One of them grasped him with a long, slimy limb, thick as a treetrunk, and lifted him up to stare at him with a vast eye as big as a horse. He had awoken suddenly in a cold sweat, his heart racing.

It was with a heavy heart that he rolled up his bedroll and made ready to leave that day. They would break out into the Dothraki Sea sometime today, Jorah had told him, and he found that he had grown fond of the forest of Qohor in their time there. He loved the songs of its birds, the smell of its air; he loved the way light played amongst the canopy and the branches. He had treasured the time riding its paths alone, singing as he went. Somewhere in his heart he felt that, no matter how far he may travel from this place, some part of him would always remain here, singing beneath the golden leaves of Qohor.

The Dothraki were fast and efficient at breaking camp, and no sooner had Valandil finished packing his saddle bags and emptied out the ashes of his pipe from his morning smoke, then the whole khalasar was ready to move again. Valandil swung up onto Velo, who snorted in displeasure and tossed his head willfully. However, with a stern word, Valandil quieted him and then lightly touched his haunches with his heels. Snorting again, Velo began to walk, the whole khalasar rumbling around them as it moved.

Viserys rode alongside Daenerys that day, and so Valandil and Jorah rode together behind them, amongst the riders of Daenerys' khas. The trees grew smaller and more distantly spaced, the undergrowth grew sparser, and the canopy became thinner and clearer as they rode through the morning and into the afternoon. Then at last, some hours after noon, they came to the edge of the forest, and leaving it behind they began up a small ridge.

Valandil had seen many wondrous sights in his years. He had seen the fair fields of the Reach covered in golden flowers as far as he could see, he had seen wintry mornings in Gondor where the whole world was covered in frost and ice and glittered in the sun like diamonds, he had seen icebergs in northern seas as tall as castles, he had seen the High Tower of Oldtown and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, and the Titan of Braavos, and the White Tower of his grandfather Elendil in Annúminas. Yet still, when he set eyes upon the Dothraki Sea, he felt his heart leap.

As far as even his Numenorean eyes could see, a vast ocean of green stretched out before them. The rolling plains stretched out, immense and empty, no hills or mountains, roads or cities, trees or bushes, only endless fields of grass that rose and fell in long, low undulations. With even the smallest brush of wind, the tall grass would ripple and sway in long waves, like a windswept ocean. Above them, the sky was so vast and so blue it could make a man's spirit soar.

"The Dothraki Sea" Ser Jorah said, reining his horse around to stop at the crest of the ridge. He, Valandil and Daenerys had outpaced the rest of the khas, including Viserys who still struggled with the unfamiliar Dothraki saddle.

"It's so green" Dany said softly, a smile on her face as she took in the sight before her.

"Aye, here, at this time. When it blooms, it turns crimson with red flowers from horizon to horizon, in the dry season it is brown as bronze. In places, the Dothraki Sea is as colourful as the rainbow of light within a sept, for there are a hundred kinds of grasses, some as yellow as lemon, others as blue as indigo." Jorah said with a smile of his own.

Daenerys wheeled her mare around and then urged her on into a headlong gallop down the slope, laughing while she went. The descent was steep and rocky, yet her white mare was surefooted and did not stumble. The mare seemed to flow through the air like liquid silver as Daenerys rode her down the ridge. Her long silver-gold hair flew behind her in her speed.

"Grass" said the voice of Viserys Targaryen behind them. His tone was unimpressed, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste at the sight before him.

"It's nothing but grass, not a town in sight. This is where these savages live?" Viserys snapped.

"They may live simply, my King, yet they are warriors beyond compare, it would not do to insult your allies" Valandil said.

"This is my army, not my allies, my kingdom waits for me in the west and we're going east. Khal Drogo is marching the wrong way with my army. If he intends to cheat me-"

"The Khal has promised you a crown, you will have it, but the Dothraki do things for their own reasons in their own time Your Grace" Jorah said diplomatically.

"If he does not pay me my price, that barbarian will feel the wrath of a woken dragon" Viserys said through clenched teeth, and he set his hand on the hilt of his sword. Jorah exchanged a knowing look with Valandil. Viserys set the spurs to his horse and started down the slope, much slower and with a great deal more cursing than his sister.

"The fool's hope" Jorah said with a shake of his head. They started down the ridge, followed by the rest of the khalasar. For all that he snorted and tossed his head in frustration, Velo proved surefooted on the descent, and it was not long before they were within the Dothraki Sea, riding amongst grasses so tall they brushed Valandil's calves from horseback.

Suddenly a long, piercing cry broke the air, echoing across the open plains. The whole khalasar turned their eyes skyward, and again the cry came, immensely loud and incredibly distant. Valandil scanned the huge mass of blue above him, and finally he spotted the source as a third cry echoed around them. Far above him, far higher than any normal bird could fly, floating on the wind was an eagle. The eagle let loose another echoing cry, it was circling overhead, soaring majestically on the air. With a skipped heartbeat, Valandil realized that for the eagle to appear so large from so far away, it had to be an immense eagle, larger than anything else had ever seen fly. Its feathers were coloured in a mix of bronze and gold, and it spread its wings wider than the span of any bird he had ever seen.

"A great eagle" Valandil said breathlessly as he watched it fly.

Thrice did the eagle circle above the horde, and thrice more did it give its ear-piercing cry, and then it veered off and flew to the west and they saw it no more.

Now out on the open plains, Drogo led the horde to a faster pace. For miles and miles they raced across the Dothraki Sea while the outriders ranged far afield in search of foes. The thralls were driven on mercilessly, jogging and running to keep up with the riders, whipped when they fell behind by cruel Dothraki whips. Daenerys did not notice the cruelties going on right behind her, but Valandil saw them, and he made note of Viserys' indifference and Daenerys' ignorance of them. They covered many miles before finally making camp as the sun set in a brilliant display of red and orange over the plains.

Night was gathering when Valandil went walking through the camp in search of a sleeping place for the night, bedroll under his arm. In the darkness around him, there were the shapes of Dothraki crowded around bright fires, laughing and singing and talking in the gloom. He passed by a larger tent atop a small rise off a distance to his right, but as he did the tent flap opened. His eye was drawn as he saw the pale figure of Daenerys leading the Khal outside. Something drew him to stay and watch while she led her husband out to the ground in front of their tent flap. To his left and right, Dothraki men and women watched with dark, curious eyes. _The Dothraki believe that everything important in a man's life must take place beneath the open sky_ he thought suddenly. Daenerys stoop before her husband and all the waiting eyes of the Dothraki, pale, slender, naked and beautiful. She pushed Drogo's vest off his shoulders, and then undid his belt of heavy medallions and pulled down his horsehair breeches. Something within Valandil cried out for him to turn away, but he felt affixed to his spot. He finally regained his senses when he saw Daenerys lay her husband down upon the ground and swing her leg over his groin to mount the Khal. He turned aside suddenly and walked away as quickly as he could with long, driving strides. Behind him, the Dothraki continued to stare.

There was an odd lurch in Valandil's stomach when, many weeks and many miles later, on the far side of the Dothraki Sea, Jhiqui announced that the khaleesi was with child.


	6. Chapter VI

**Chapter VI  
King's Landing**

Isildur slammed the doors of his solar shut behind him, and let out a low, wordless noise of frustration. Frustration with the King, with the Queen, with the Small Council, with the King's court, with the whole of King's Landing. He crossed the sun-bathed room and poured himself a glass of iced water from a pitcher beaded with perspiration, and then he sunk gratefully into his chair, wiped sweat from his brow and drank deeply of the cold, refreshing water. Not for the first time, he found himself yearning for home, for the clear air and cool mornings of Ithilien, and a good summer snow. Mostly he yearned to be done with King's Landing and all the people within it.

The smallfolk often said that the late summer was the hottest part of all, and he believed them. The sun beat down mercilessly on the city, and a heavy, moist heat lay upon King's Landing like a stifling blanket. The days were scorching and the nights humid and sweltering. Many of the city's commoners had taken to sleeping by the riverbank at night, where the only cool air could be found. Some of the commoners even said that this recent heat wave was being stirred up by Isildur himself or "that Gondor sorcerer" as they called him.

It had been a month since Isildur had arrived in the city to become the Hand of the King. A month and he had not achieved nearly as much as he wanted. Despite all the best of intentions and efforts, Isildur could tell that his position in court was tenuous. He was no fool, he could see how the nobles of the court looked at him, and hear how the servants whispered behind his back when he passed. Every lord and lady of the court seemed to suspect some Numenorean plot to usurp the throne or bring this disaster or that misfortune upon this house or that house. The servants, on the other hand, seemed to fear him. They whispered that he could curse a man to a lifetime of suffering just by looking at him, and that he communed with dark powers late in the night. The Faith had a different reaction to Isildur's presence and on every street corner there seemed to be half-mad holy men and self-proclaimed prophets. They preached that Isildur planned to destroy the Great Sept of Baelor and erect a temple to the One God, driving out the many gods old and new, and extolling the faithful to not stand for the presence of this 'heathen' in their presence. Of course he planned no such thing, but it made no difference as far as the common folk were concerned. It seemed like every living soul in King's Landing feared him or suspected him of treason, heresy or both. It was not how Isildur had imagined the smallfolk reacting to his appointment.

The King's council was no better. Renly Baratheon, the Master of Laws, was all jokes and easy smiles, much as Robert had been at that age, friendly enough outwardly, but of no serious value in any debate within the council. Stannis Baratheon, Robert's other brother, had disappeared to Dragonstone shortly after Jon Arryn's death, and despite dispatching several ravens to summon him, Isildur had heard of nothing from why he had left or when he would return. He was sorely missed; despite his cold, unfriendly nature he had always respected Stannis' staunch sense of duty. Pycelle was a simpering sycophant, who blustered and droned on about nothing in his old age, and Isildur was almost certain he was someone's puppet. Like Renly, Littlefinger was all smiles and jests, but there was something sharper about him, his humour was barbed, and Isildur disliked the private little smile Baelish always had, and how he looked at everything as if he knew some private little joke that no one else was privy to. Varys the Spider was little better, a plump and powdered eunuch, speaking in soft, silky, deferential tones, appearing disarmingly effeminate and squeamish, yet he had no doubt that Varys had eyes and ears everywhere, and that at least some of them were following Isildur himself.

Even Robert himself was a part of Isildur's frustrations. He had ordering the creation of a King's Host, "to keep the scum in line" as he put it, and yet thought nothing of the great expense of building and maintaining an army of ten thousand trained fighting men. Robert loved feasts, festivals and the hunt. To Isildur's dismay, he had even ordered a tournament to be held in honour of his appointment as Hand of the King. They had quarreled long and loud when Isildur told him that he could have his host or his merrymaking, but he could not have both. They had filled the halls of the Red Keep with the sounds of arguments and shouting over that little disagreement.

_At least I talked the fool into postponing the damned tournament by a fortnight_ Isildur thought wearily, rubbing his brow. _I wish I had Ned's job. Why could not he be Robert's Hand? Is he not Robert's best friend and closest companion? _

There was a knock at the door, and the voice of Ohtar came through the heavy oak timbers:

"My lord, Lord Varys wishes an audience"

Isildur inwardly groaned. He had hoped to escape the council for the rest of the day at least.

"Very well Ohtar" he called.

Ohtar opened the door and Varys the Spider glided into Isildur's solar silently, hands folded within the large, drooping sleeves of his colourful, garish robes, a small half-smile on his plump face. Ohtar watched Varys closely with hard eyes and his hand on the hilt of his sword, and then closed the door behind him. Varys turned to face Isildur, and then bowed with a courtly flourish.

"My Lord Hand" Varys said in his simpering, soft voice.

"What do you want Varys?" Isildur demanded "I did not summon you".

Varys' half-smile remained plastered on his face.

"I admire your candour my lord. May I sit?" Varys said. Isildur nodded, and the eunuch sat down in a chair across the desk from him, gathering up his silks and robes as he did.

"Now, Master of Whisperers, what are you here for?" Isildur demanded.

"To serve the good of the Realm, my Lord Hand, just as you are. There are things you must know and things I must tell you" Varys said. Isildur scoffed.

"I've been in this viper's nest a month now and heard nothing from you outside of council meetings. You are rather tardy about your duties, Lord Varys" he remarked drily.

"Alas, you must forgive me my lord, but think on all you know about me, and then try to imagine all that I know about you. It is not easy for a spider to trust" Varys said silkily.

"They say you know everything Varys" Isildur replied.

"Oh I have heard many a song from many a bird, however you are rather a difficult subject my Lord Isildur" Varys said with a nervous chuckle. "I know what you look like, a very tall man somewhere in his thirties I would estimate, yet I know that you are a great deal older than that. I know you landed here some thirty years after Aegon. If I might pry for an anecdote my Lord, what was old Aegon the Conqueror truly like? I've always wondered"

"Avaricious, solitary, obsessed with his own legacy, talked too much" Isildur answered. It was no exaggeration, although the first Tar-Aegon had been generous enough to the Numenoreans after they had sworn fealty, he had not left a favourable impression on Isildur or his father and brother. People called him "Aegon the Dragon", and indeed he was much like a dragon: Arrogant, ruthless and full of greed.

"I suppose one must forgive a tedious speaker when his words are backed by dragonfire" Varys said.

"Quite. Now what do you need to tell me Varys?" Isildur pressed. Varys' smile faded and his tone and face grew suddenly serious.

"Very well my Lord, if you wish to go straight to business, so be it. You are being-"

"Watched, I know. If that's all you have Varys, I'm unimpressed Spider" Isildur said. Varys smirked.

"Why, my Lord, one would almost guess that you have played this game before" the Spider said.

"More than you know, Lord Varys. Aren't you supposed to know everything?" Isildur replied.

"Oh my lord, they say I know everything but I am merely a humble servant. Do you know who is having you watched?" Varys asked

"You, the Queen, and most likely Baelish as well I would guess" answered Isildur.

"Well done my lord. You know, it was I who suggested to His Grace that you might make a better Hand than dear old Ned, and you have not disappointed me. Ned Stark is too much of an honourable man to see what goes on in the shadows of a king's court, but you, my lord, you have walked in those shadows before, you know how this game is played" Varys said with a small, enigmatic smile.

_Crafty devil. I will need to be more careful with him. _Isildur thought. Slowly, his face betraying nothing, he began to bend his will towards Varys' mind, his eyes as hard and grey as a sword blade as they bored into the man before him, Isildur's gaze steady and unyielding. There were secrets there, and Isildur could see the Spider spinning webs within webs. It could take him hours of searching to untangle it all, but even a cursory glance revealed to him that Varys knew much about his people and their history.

"Ned would have been a good Hand, he is a good man" Isildur said, breaking away from his brief search.

"Perhaps, but you are the King's Hand my lord, and the King faces death, unless you can save him. It has been a close run thing; you scotched the snake but did not kill it when you had the tourney postponed. They had planned to kill him then, but so far he has escaped the doom prepared for him" Varys said, his tone deathly serious.

"Kill him? How?" Isildur asked.

"In the same way as they killed Jon Arryn. The tears of Lys they call them, a most insidious poison, it is clear, odourless and tasteless, it leaves no trace, but death is certain. At a tourney feast, with Robert drinking everything he can get his hands on… You know what they planned to do my lord, you can see how easy it would be. Like Jon Arryn, Robert refuses to use a taster" Varys replied.

"Jon Arryn? Maester Pycelle told me he died of a sickness, though I have suspected that Pycelle is somebody's pet. He was a good man, he gave the realm good years, who could poison him?" Isildur said, rubbing furrowed brows wearily. He knew that King's Landing was a pit of intrigue and plots, but he had never expected anything like this.

"Oh there were many, you know as well as I that Lord Arryn was a kind and trusting man. There is one, a boy who owed all he had to Jon Arryn. His squire, now a knight, Ser Hugh of the Vale. Of course, with the tournament postponed, he may have left the capital by now" said Varys.

"But why? Why poison Jon Arryn? Why poison Robert?"

"Why does anyone poison a king? With Robert dead, the throne will pass to Joffrey, but he is still young, he would need a regent"

"And the city is already filled with Lannisters" Isildur said, as if seeing the pieces of a puzzle assemble themselves before him. Varys nodded.

"And Jon Arryn?" Isildur asked.

"Before he died, Lord Arryn was beginning to ask questions, I'm afraid even I know little more than that. Alas, my lord, I must cut this visit short. We wouldn't want the Queen to think you and I were on friendly terms, that would alarm her, and Her Grace has such a bad habit of doing foolish things when alarmed" Varys said with his small, mysterious smile. He arose, and bowed again, before heading to the door.

"Varys" Isildur said as the Spider opened the door to the hallway.

"Yes my lord?" Varys replied, turning back.

"Can I trust you?"

"My lord, you can trust me only to be untrustworthy. It is the ones who try to make you trust them that you must beware" the Spider said, and then turned in a swish of silks and was gone.

"Cirion! Ohtar!" Isildur called into the hallway through the open door. Immediately his squire and his housecarl came swiftly into Isildur's solar. Despite the heat, they were both dressed in mail hauberks of black steel rings, the coifs pulled back off their heads, with long black surcoats bearing the tree, stars and crescent moon that was Isildur's sigil, swords and daggers at their hips. Ohtar was scratching at one of his old battle scars, as was his habit.

"Close the door" Isildur commanded. Cirion shut the heavy oak door behind him. Isildur rose from the desk, and walked over to his balcony, where the curtains had been flung open to let in as much of the breeze as possible. Looking outside, his keen eyes spotted what he was looking for: Upon the battlements of the curtain wall, across the courtyard from the Tower of the Hand, a red-cloaked Lannister guard was staring intently at balcony of Isildur's solar. Grimacing, he quickly closed the curtains, not wanting to be observed any more than he already had been. He turned back to Cirion and Ohtar and leaned down against his desk.

"It seems our duties here might be a little bit more complicated that I first presumed" Isildur said.

"Like in the old days my lord?" Cirion asked.

"Aye Cirion, like in the old days" Isildur answered. Ohtar and Cirion nodded grimly.

"But it will be different this time. The players of this game are different. Our enemy is not the Deceiver, merely men. There may be some plot here to usurp the Crown and I intend to find the truth behind this. Ohtar, I have need of you. There is a knight, Ser Hugh of the Vale of Arryn, former squire to Jon Arryn. He may have left already with the tournament postponed, but find him for me if he hasn't and quietly inform him that I would like a word with him"

"Aye my lord" Ohtar said with a nod, and then turned to leave.

"Ohtar" Isildur said before his squire could go. He smiled a little. "Perhaps put on some different clothes before you go speak to Ser Hugh"

"My lord, we are Dunedain, and the only Dunedain in the city, we'll be noticed wherever we go, but as you wish." Ohtar said with a chuckle.

"Do not hurt him if he refuses, Ohtar" Isildur said as the squire left.

"Yes my lord" Ohtar replied with a slight grin, and then he left, walking swiftly away, and closing the door behind him.

"What does my lord command?" Cirion asked.

"I need the men to be on the watch for anyone with eyes on us or on this tower. I want to know who are the informants and the spies in this castle, or at least who are the ones watching us. Instruct each watch to keep their eyes open for anyone who might be spending a suspicious amount of time around the tower, but keep it quiet, don't let anyone know you're watching." Isildur explained.

"As you wish my lord" said Cirion, then he saluted and quickly left the solar.

Isildur picked up his cup of water and drained it, drinking deeply. He turned around and crossed the room to the balcony once more, and flung open the curtains. The guardsman that had been watching had moved away now. A merciful breeze cooled the sweat on Isildur's forehead as he leaned against the railing of his balcony and looked out upon the city. The sun was beginning to set, a brilliant ball of red on the horizon that cast long shadows throughout the the castle. Down in the yard beneath him, men in the crimson cloaks of the Lannisters were finishing up their day's training with swords and axes, filling the yard with shouts and the clash of steel on steel. Amongst the redcloaks, Isildur spotted the tall, broad shape of the Hound, and several younger lads in the white and brown garb of the Squireguard.

Isildur looked up from the yard and stared out at the glittering, distant Blackwater Rush, and the sea beyond it. It had been fifteen years since the last time he set foot in King's Landing, but longer, much longer, since he had last played this kind of a game. _And the last time, we lost our home in the end_ he thought grimly. It was home, in Numenor, in the court of King Ar-Pharazon where Isildur had learned the game from his father and grandfather. He had learned to move unseen, to say little and give away nothing when he did, to watch and perceive men's intentions, to observe the relationships between men of power. He had been young then, so young; he was barely come to manhood in those days. The King's Men were everywhere, and the Faithful were few and persecuted, and ever the foul temple that the Enemy had erected to Morgoth smoked with sacrificial fires and echoed with the screams of the condemned. Those had been dark days, when the King's ear was held by the creature who called himself Mairon the Admirable, but whom Isildur knew as Sauron the Deceiver.

_This place is not Armenelos, and my foes here are not Sauron or the King's Men, this time we shall have the mastery _Isildur mused, sweeping his gaze out across the expansive view of King's Landing. It was a strange feeling for a man at times, to be a Dúnadan. It had been over two centuries ago when Isildur and his kin had first set foot in King's Landing, in the thirtieth year after Aegon's Landing by the Westerosi reckoning. It had been a far smaller city in those days, a few thousand houses and other buildings sitting close by the river, with muddy dirt streets, and the Red Keep still an unfinished heap of stone on Aegon's Hill. Isildur could never forget the hour he spent with his father and brother in Aegon's hall, telling the tale of how their people had come to wash up on the shores of Westeros under the steady, unflinching gaze of Aegon the Dragon. Isildur had been sure that Aegon would laugh at them and cast them out, but instead he had given them titles and lands to settle in the north, and asked only that they bend the knee and swear fealty to him in return. With three great wyrms at Aegon's command, they had to bend the knee or risk their people's destruction. It would be nearly another hundred years before Isildur would see King's Landing again, after the Dance of the Dragons, to crown Rhaenyra Ruling Queen of the Eight Kingdoms. And again, it would be many lives of men before he came to the capital again, when it was a smoking ruin after the Lannisters had sacked it and thrown down the Mad King. He could not have guessed when he first set foot in King's Landing all those years ago that he would someday be Hand of the King in this city. _The years come and go, and every time I return King's Landing grows larger and busier, but it always has the same stench _Isildur thought with a chuckle.

Isildur awoke the next day to the sounds of the bells from the Great Sept of Baelor ringing out, greeting sunrise and calling the faithful to morning prayers. He had grown used to that sound already in the month he had been in King's Landing: A long, loud, tolling noise that could be heard from every part of King's Landing. There was something oddly reassuring about the sound of the sept bells, rung out regularly at sunrise, the noon and sunset.

He arose from bed and, still dressed in his smallclothes, walked over to the copper basin of warm water the servants had laid out for him. He immersed his head and face in the water, splashing it all over his neck and back as he did. Then, soaking a towel in the water, he set to washing the rest of his body before dressing himself. Unlike the fashionable members of the court with their ornate, heavily decorated doublets and hose, Isildur preferred the simpler clothing of his people: Plain linen tunic, trousers, black boots, and a long black surcoat with the white tree embroidered on his chest, belted around the waist with Narsil at his side.

After lightly breaking his fast, he left his chambers. Two of Isildur's housecarls, Huor and Belegorn, fell into step behind him when he left, mail hauberks clinking as they did. They followed him out of the tower of the Hand. The yard was empty except for a few of the young squires going through their morning drills. Above them the great hall loomed, and its heavy doors were flung open by footmen at Isildur's approach. A knight in the white and red armour of the Redguard glowered at Isildur and his housecarls as they passed into the hall.

The great hall of the Red Keep was a vast chamber; with space enough for a thousand men and to spare. Hefty stone columns lined the long hall, with floral designs in the shape of vines crawling up around them in bronze. Once the great black skulls of Targaryen dragons had lined the hall, giving it a sinister air, but now in the place of the skulls there hung bright woven tapestries showing scenes of hunting and nature. Isildur did miss one of the skulls: That of the beast that his father had slain, which Queen Rhaenyra had covered with the banner of Gondor in the hall in honour of his father's feat. The Mad King had torn it down and had it burned when Gondor refused his call to arms.

At the far end of the hall, raised up upon a high platform, was the throne itself. The Iron Throne, Seat of Kings. It was a twisted and misshapen beast of a throne, jagged and treacherous, fanged with barbs and spikes of steel. The fires of the old wyrm Balerion had forged it, melted down from the thousand swords of Aegon's enemies. It sat upon its platform sullenly, hunched and brooding, a dark mass of blackened steel amongst the golden light of the hall.

Isildur walked past the throne to the door at the back of the great hall, the staring eyes of another Redguard following him and his housecarls all the way. Within the council chamber, he found the King's small council already assembled and waiting for him.

All around the meeting table, the men who ruled in King Robert Baratheon's name sat. The eternally bemused half-smiles plastered on the faces of Varys and Baelish made Isildur yearn to throttle both of them. Renly Baratheon looked fashionable in a doublet of rich green decorated with small gold studs in the shape of stag's heads. The Grand Maester Pycelle was almost ready to doze off, his eyes heavily lidded. Isildur saw that both Ned and Aratan had joined the council today. He smiled slightly to see that Ned looked as impatient and distasteful amongst all these courtiers as Isildur felt.

"My lords" Isildur began, sitting at the end of the table on the right hand of one empty chair, that of King Robert. "What have you for me today?"

"Your tournament grows nearer my Lord Hand, I think it best we start making our plans" Baelish said.

"The tournament, Lord Baelish. It is certainly not mine by choice or design. What does the King desire?" Isildur replied.

"What any man desires: To eat, drink, fuck and be merry" Littlefinger quipped. Renly chuckled. Isildur exchanged a glance with Ned; He disliked a king's own council laughing at the king behind his back.

"His Grace wishes a tournament of four days, with a joust, a melee, and an archery competition, and a great winner's purse for each event" Lord Varys said, handing Isildur a piece of paper where the scribes had recorded all the details. Isildur's eyes widened as he scanned over the plans.

"Fifty thousand gold dragons for the champion of the joust? And another forty thousand for the champion of the melee?" Isildur said, aghast.

"I expect I shall have to borrow from Lord Lannister, but no matter, at least he doesn't haggle like an old fishwife like the High Septon" Baelish said. Isildur rubbed his brow.

"We will make the prize thirty thousand for the winner of the joust, twenty thousand for the winner of the melee and ten thousand for the winning archer" he said.

"How frugal, a tourney for cheap" remarked Baelish sardonically.

"Were we being frugal, Lord Baelish, there would be no tourney at all" Isildur replied sternly.

"My Lord, the realm prospers on such events" Varys said smoothly "They give the great a chance for glory and the lowly a respite from their woes"

"The tournament will put money in many purses Lord Varys, I have no doubt, but it will put little enough back in our own coffers. Perhaps we ought to introduce a tax on brothels?" Isildur said with a pointed look at Baelish.

"Now you're beginning to sound like Stannis Baratheon, my lord" said the Master of Coin with a smirk.

"Stannis wouldn't tax the whorehouses, he'd burn them down" said Renly.

"You're Master of Coin Lord Baelish, I care not what you do, but find some way to put some silver in our treasury out of this" Isildur said. _Baelish will find a way, he is clever. He is dangerous though, he knows all too well his own cunning_

"Shall we move on? Lord Stark, what progress have you to report?" Isildur continued, nodding to Ned. Eddard straightened up in his chair and began to speak, addressing the whole Council.

"We've established a camp outside of the city, about half a day's ride away. We plan to pay the men according to their skill. It will work out to fifteen silver stags a month for a common man, ten gold dragons a month for a trained archer and fifty gold dragons for a sergeant. I have commissioned several workshops on the Street of Steel to provide pikes, crossbows, gambesons, helmets, whilst the Dunedain sergeants that Lord Isildur provided drill the men with the basics of soldiering. I reckon that we can maintain ten thousand fighting men, trained with pike, short sword and crossbow"

"Not much of an army for the King of Eight Kingdoms is it Lord Marshal?" Renly remarked.

"It is peacetime army. If the realm is invaded, those ten thousand trained men can train thousands of others at need, and the armies of the lords and their bannermen will support the King's Host." Aratan explained. He did not add "Or else the Host will come down on their heads", but the implication was heavy in his words.

"What will be the burden on the Treasury I wonder?" Pycelle said ponderously.

"With only ten thousand, it shall not be too heavy an addition to our expenses to pay the silver for most of the men. The gold… Well I'm sure our good Lord Hand will solve that soon" Baelish replied, jotting a note on his account book. There was a gleam of something in his eyes that Isildur disliked.

"You have only mentioned foot? What will the Host do for horse I wonder?" Renly asked.

"There are knights and freeriders a plenty in the kingdoms. We thought it prudent to keep the Host on foot to save the Crown from the expense of warhorses. And we shall recruit the captains and other officers from amongst the knights and nobles of the realm" Aratan explained. There were nods of agreement from around the table.

"Whilst we are on the topic of the Treasury, a group of merchant captains have come forward to me with this" Baelish said, sliding a large piece of parchment across the table to Isildur. Isildur examined it with a close eye; it was covered with the names and signatures of many notable merchants in King's Landing, and their seals along the bottom.

"It is a petition; these merchants seek royal permission to sail to the far east in search of new trade routes, to Qarth or beyond. They would like an escort of warships from the royal fleet; in exchange they offer us a cut of all their profits from their voyage. This venture may well help us pay off our considerable debts" the Master of Coin explained. Though his face was smiling, his gray-green eyes did not.

"Yes, I shall bring it before Robert to deal with in court" Isildur replied "We must also bring Lord Stannis back to King's Landing, for he is Master of Ships and must have a say in this matter"

"Alas my Lord Hand, there has been no raven from Dragonstone, no word, nothing" Pycelle said, folding his hands beneath his long beard.

"Hmm, and Lord Varys? What know you of Stannis' self-imposed exile in Dragonstone?" asked Isildur.

"I fear that none of my little birds have brought me any songs out of that dreadful island" Varys replied apologetically. "However, I have heard some most dreadful songs from here in the capital itself. It would seem that some of our smallfolk take offense to your faith Lord Isildur, they are worried that you do not hold with the old gods or the new"

"You're losing your edge Varys, everyone knows that." Renly said with a smirk.

"I do not hide the fact that I do not hold with the Seven or the olds gods" Isildur said, narrowing his eyes.

"Nor I" Aratan added.

"We have all heard the dreadful things they say against you in the streets my Lord Hand" said Varys "But I fear that there may be whispers against you in the Faith itself, even amongst the Most Devout. To whisper against the King's Hand is to whisper against the King himself and his council"

"We might turn the people in our favour if you were to attend prayers in the Sept of Baelor" Renly suggested.

There was silence around the table. Isildur stared at him with hard grey eyes. Renly recoiled slightly.

"That I cannot and will not do, and you would do well to remember it Lord Renly" Isildur said slowly.

"A poor jest my lord Hand" Renly laughed with a shrug

"It is not much to worry about I deem, the Faith Militant has been gone for centuries" said the Grand Maester.

"I remember. Still their influence is considerable. Bring me the names of those who speak against the Crown, I must consider this matter further" Isildur replied.

The morning's meetings wore on until the bells of Baelor rang out midday. There were plans to be made for the tournament, for the provisioning of the Host, preparations to be lain out for the next winter, for the next harvest, for the next feast, financial arrangements to be made in regards to the Crown's considerable debts, diplomatic and trade relations with the Free Cities to be considered. Isildur felt like a gardener tending to a garden that grew uncontrollably whenever he turned his back, no matter how much he pruned it. Though many of the issues were similar to what he faced at home as Lord of Ithilien, they were on a different scale entirely, problems of eight kingdoms, not of one highland fief.

"That will be all for today my lords" Isildur said, leaning back in his chair when the bells began to ring. There was a scraping of chair legs on stone floor, and the small council rose as one to depart, each bowing to Isildur before they left. Eddard and Aratan were the last to rise.

"Ah, Aratan, Ned, pray would you two join me for luncheon? I wish for some company today" Isildur said, smiling towards them. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Baelish leave the room and Belegorn close the door to the council chamber behind him. Isildur's smile fell and his face grew serious.

"There are things we must discuss, the King may face death and I will need both of you" said Isildur. Both Aratan and Ned's eyes widened in shock at the sudden change.

"What? What doom?" said Ned, brows furrowed.

"What need of us?" said Aratan urgently.

"Not here" Isildur hissed in a low voice "Too many listening, too many watching. Meet me in" he paused to think of the place in the castle where they would least be expected to be. "The royal sept, tonight, while the rest of the castle sleeps. And ensure you are not followed"

"But what is this threat?" Ned pressed.

"We cannot speak of it here. I shall tell you all I know tonight. Now go, and speak of this to no one"

Eddard's reservations about this whole situation were clear, but still he and Aratan rose and agreed to meet Isildur in the sept at midnight, then they turned and left the council chamber.

When Isildur arrived back at the Tower of the Hand, he found Ohtar leaning against the wall next to the door, his scarred face creased by a small grin of self-satisfaction.

"I found Ser Hugh my lord, he waits in your solar" Ohtar said at Isildur's questioning look. The squire fell into step with Huor and Belegorn behind Isildur as they passed back into the tower.

"Well done Ohtar, where did you find him?" Isildur asked, ascending the stairs towards his solar. Ohtar chuckled.

"We asked his innkeeper where he was, and we were told he was last seen heading towards the Street of Silk. Found him there arguing with a, uh, young lady that his knighthood deserves a discount"

Isildur quirked an eyebrow.

"Westerosi, all the same" he sighed.

Within his solar, Isildur found Ser Hugh sitting in the chair by his desk, waiting for him. Hugh was a young man, with a narrow face and a large nose, dull blue eyes and a mop of blond hair atop his head. On his chest he wore a surcoat of sky blue with a white crescent moon as his sigil. The new knight arose when Isildur stepped into the room.

"My Lord Hand" Hugh said curtly.

"Ser Hugh is it not? I do not believe we have been introduced?" Isildur said, extending a hand courteously. Hugh did not take it.

"What is the meaning of this summons my lord?" said Ser Hugh, almost demandingly.

"I had thought we might discuss your former master, Lord Arryn and his recent death" Isildur said, walking around the desk and settling into his chair. Ser Hugh sat back down across from him, face slightly paled.

"What would you like to know?" Ser Hugh asked, only the barest hint of a quiver in his voice.

"I am curious: How did Lord Arryn take sick?" Isildur said.

"I don't know my lord" said Hugh, a little too quickly "He was a very old man"

"Old by the reckoning of your people, yet he had always been hale and sound, until this sickness took him. Do you not think that such a thing would raise suspicion?" replied Isildur.

"I do not my lord" Ser Hugh answered stiffly "He was old, he took sick, and he died"

"The Hand of the King? Died suddenly? Can you not think of any reason that someone might wish him gone? And you were his squire, very close to him as a squire is" Isildur said. Hugh bristled in his chair.

"Is my lord suggesting that I-"

"I suggest nothing, are you confessing?" Isildur cut him off.

"I am a knight, I will not stand to have my honour insulted like this. I had nothing to do with Lord Arryn's death, and if any say otherwise than I will meet my accusers with steel in hand and let the gods show the truth of it" Ser Hugh snarled. Isildur did not even need to look into his mind, he could see that this young man had all the foolish arrogance of a new-made knight, yet there was no lie in Hugh's eye.

"As you say Ser Hugh. Still, you must agree that the whole thing seems strange does it not?" replied Isildur. The anger passed from Ser Hugh's face, replaced by a look of slight worry.

"I confess my lord, yes I have found it all quite unusual and very sudden" Hugh said.

"Perhaps you might help me look into this matter, you were Lord Arryn's squire, you must have known much of his comings and goings" Isildur said.

"Aye my lord, but I fear I know only little, I was only his squire and Lord Arryn did not confide in me." Hugh said apologetically.

"What can you tell me Ser Hugh?" asked Isildur.

"Before he took ill, Lord Arryn was spending much time with Lord Stannis, out in the city, or taking long rides in the kingswood" said Ser Hugh

"What did they talk about?" Isildur inquired, furrowing his brows.

"Alas I do not know my lord, they rode alone and spoke in private for the most part" explained Hugh with a grimace. "I cannot help you much more than that"

"Very well Ser knight, you may go and be about your business, but stay in the city at least until after the tourney, I may have more questions for you" said Isildur.

Ser Hugh thanked Isildur, and then stood and took his leave with a stiff bow. Isildur sat at his desk for a moment, hands clasped in front of his face, elbows resting on the table. Quickly he decided what he must do. The tall Numenorean lord stood and crossed the room quickly, shutting the door and then locking it. He pulled the curtains close across each window in the room, casting his solar into a shaded half-light, and then he unlocked a chest along the wall and opened it.

At the bottom of his chest he found what he was looking for, a round, hard object wrapped up in soft black cloth. Gently he picked it up, the heavy, round weight of it filling both his hands. Sitting back down at his table, he unwrapped the cloth. Beneath it sat the most prized of all his possessions in King's Landing, a marvel of the Elder Days: A palantir, a Seeing Stone.

The palantir was perfectly round, wrought of solid dark glass or perhaps a black crystal, Isildur knew not. A pale light glimmered faintly and distantly within its depths. Isildur set his hands on either side of the palantir and stared into it. The light in his solar dimmed and he felt himself drawn deeper and deeper into the darkness of the palantir, until all he could see was the blackness of the Seeing Stone and the distant white light within.

He was looking down upon King's Landing, soaring above it like an eagle, yet he felt neither wind nor breeze. Beneath him, the city was spread out upon its three hills, the Red Keep looming above it all. He knew that within his solar in the tower of the Hand, his body remained whilst his eye and his mind had entered into the palantir. He was high in the air, the land spread out beneath him like a map upon a table, and he turned north towards where he felt the presence of the other Seeing Stones. In an instant he felt the one he was searching for and started towards it, flying across the land at impossible speeds, hundreds of leagues passing by in minutes. He turned his gaze westward as he flew and saw Casterly Rock, fortress of the Lannisters, high, strong, never broken, a bastion of might and power . He turned eastwards and saw the Mountains of the Moon, teeming with mountain clansmen who appeared as tiny as ants from high in the air. In another moment, beneath him flew the Neck, which had been such a slow, miserable part of his southward journey, now flying past in an instant. There was a swash of wine-dark sea beneath him as he passed over Blazewater Bay, and then Gondor lay beneath him. He passed over his home, Minas Ithil, sitting upon the river Sirhun in Ithilien, its high citadel as pale and white as the moon. He felt a pang of longing within him, but he could not linger. He flew on, north and west, across the highlands and the moors, and then he saw it: Annuminas lay beneath him, the great ships in its havens appearing as tiny as a child's toy boats. For a moment he looked down upon Annuminas, feeling the tug of the Seeing Stone in the citadel. Isildur looked out to the north, the gaze of his palantir showing him things far beyond the reach of even a Numenorean eye. He saw the Wolfwood, dark and green and wild. He saw the Wall, a sheer cliff of ice that shielded the realm.

He bent his will towards beyond the lands beyond the Wall, but he could not see. All there was that he could see beyond the Wall was a shroud of darkness and shadow, and staring into its impenetrable depths Isildur felt a sudden dread creep up within himself, like a cold hand closing around his heart.

He turned back towards Annuminas and focused his mind on the feeling of the Stone he had come to make contact with. He felt its insistent pull upon him and allowed himself to be drawn towards the chamber of the Stone in the heart of the citadel of Annuminas. He soared down, through the clouds, through the streets, passing through the solid stones of the wall as if they were air, and as he drew nearer to his destination, blackness took him and Isildur saw no more.

When he regained his vision, he was looking up at a vast, domed ceiling, painted blue, dark as the night sky. The ceiling was studded with gems and precious stones made to resemble the stars, and these stars glinted and glimmered in the sunlight that lit up the chamber from tall windows set in the walls and the ceiling. Isildur knew himself to be seeing the room from the palantir that sat upon a stone platform in the centre of the chamber. He looked around, searching for the guardsman that was meant to be keeping a watch upon the Seeing Stone.

Dressed in the livery of Gondor, a young Dúnadan stood close by the door to the hall, a look of wonder upon his face. _He must not have seen the Seeing Stone called upon before_ Isildur thought.

"It is I, Isildur. Send word to my lord father, I wish to speak with him" Isildur said, his strong voice carrying through the palantir as clearly as if he was standing there himself.

"Aye my lord" said the guardsman, and he saluted and quickly walked out of the room.

When Elendil arrived, he swept into the chamber, his sky-blue robes billowing out behind him. Elendil closed the door behind him, with a nod to the guard standing outside.

"My son, what news do you bring? I know you would not call upon me through the Seeing Stone to merely visit" Elendil said, setting a hand upon the palantir to look upon his son's face so far away in King's Landing.

"Grave news from the capital, father. I cannot speak for long, so I must be quick: I fear that there is a plot upon the King's life" replied Isildur.

"What? By whom? How did you come to know this?" Elendil asked. His brows were furrowed, yet his tone was not one of shock.

"Lord Varys has confided his suspicions" Isildur said.

"You should not place your trust in a spider Isildur, you are wiser than that"

"I am not putting my trust in him, but knowledge is his trade and if he suspects something it would be wise to investigate it ourselves. There is much jealousy and many schemes and plots here in the court of Tar-Robert, one even may wish to throw down the King himself and usurp the Crown"

Elendil sighed, rubbing his brows wearily.

"Ever has King's Landing been a hole full of rats, much as even the court of Numenor became. Whom do you suspect?" he said.

"I believe it may have something to do with the death of Jon Arryn. Lord Varys believes it has a Lannister plot, and indeed it could be. The capital is full of Lannisters and men sworn to them" answered Isildur.

"If the Queen's own kin are plotting treason, you must go to the King with this suspicion" said Elendil.

"I cannot do that father. Robert considers me a friend, to accuse his own wife and her family of treason without proof? Our people are distrusted enough as it is" Isildur replied.

"It matters not if they distrust us, it is your duty. You must go to King." said Elendil automatically.

"Yet if they distrust us, how can I do my duty? I cannot go to the King unless I can prove my suspicions father, surely you know that"

"Your word should more than suffice. The King may find the truth of it himself, with your aid"

"Robert has many virtues father, but subtlety is not one of them. No, I must do this myself before I bring it to him" Isildur insisted. Elendil's eyes flashed for a moment, and Isildur knew he had erred. His father was not used to being disagreed with by his sons.

"Let us not bicker now, there are other things we must discuss, for if House Lannister plots to overthrow the King, who else but us may stand before the might of Casterly Rock? Few enough houses can match the hosts of the Westerlands on the field, and if Lord Tywin aspires to place his house on the throne, many may join him." said Isildur.

"You need not worry yourself my son" Elendil replied with a grim smile "The eyes of the White Tower see much more than the Lannisters may suspect. If Lord Tywin marches, we shall know."

"Good, that is good. How goes Anarion's preparations?" Isildur said. A shadow passed over Elendil's face.

"He has been diligent, but your brother is discontent. He feels that we should command the Andals, for he tells me that surely we are stronger and wiser and more just than they, rather than stand beside them when the day comes and the Enemy is upon us" said Elendil wearily. Isildur sighed.

"Ever have our people been plagued by such thoughts. There are times when I feel that it would be better if the Valar had never blessed us with our powers" Isildur said.

"He was young when Numenor fell, still a boy really. It may be that the lessons we learned from such hardship are not as clear to him" Elendil said with a shake of his head.

"He adores you father, you must speak to him and he shall listen, I know Anarion. Alas father, I fear I have stayed too long already. I must be away now"

"You are the King's Hand Isildur, and you are my son, if there is any that can protect Tar-Robert it is you." Elendil said, raising his hand in farewell.

With a jolt and a sudden lurch in his stomach, Isildur found himself back in his chamber in King's Landing, birds chirping outside his window. The room swam before his eyes, but he shook his head and cleared his vision. The palantir still sat upon his table, dark and impregnable. The words of his father had only added to the cares upon his troubled mind. Once again he wrapped up the Seeing Stone in its dark cloth and then reverently placed it back in the chest, which he closed and securely locked. Then he unlocked his doors and cast open his windows, allowing sunlight back into his chamber.

The rest of the day passed slowly in meetings with the small council, talks with this noble and that noble, and long wandering walks throughout the castle. He felt as if all the troubles of the world were born upon his shoulders, and yet he could not act. He found himself often walking the battlements, staring out to the sea and listening to the sound of the gulls, wishing for nothing more than to take ship, strike out for the horizon and leave it all behind. Other times in the council chambers, whilst Renly joked and Baelish smirked, he wished only to sweep Narsil out and pull the truth of all of this out of them right then and there, yet he knew that would not bring him his solution. Everywhere he walked through the Red Keep there were smiles and nods and bows to his face and whispers behind his back.

He was glad when the sun finally set behind the western hills, bringing an end to a long and wearisome day. He waited for several more hours, the moon climbing high in the starry night sky. Isildur stood in his bedchamber, watching out a narrow window. One by one, he watched the windows of Maegor's holdfast darkened, candles being put out and fires burning down. Finally he was sure that the rest of the castle was sound asleep. Isildur turned and quickly crossed his chamber, opening the heavy door. Outside his door stood Huor the housecarl.

"Huor, give me your cloak" Isildur said, tapping his guardsman on the shoulder. Unfastening his broach, Huor took off his plain, drab grey cloak and handed it to his lord. Isildur took off his own finer cloak and the eagle broach, then swept Huor's cloak over his shoulders and pulled the hood up to shadow his face. He started down the hallway towards the stairs.

"Be safe my lord" said Huor.

"Do not worry, I shall return in a short time" Isildur said, and then turned to quickly walk away.

The night air was cool and smelled of sea salt when Isildur exited the Tower of the Hand. Quietly and quickly he strode across the yard, Huor's grey cloak blending with the dark and the shadows beneath the walls. The royal sept lay across the bailey from the Tower of the Hand, and Isildur walked to it cautiously, wary of any eyes that may be watching. The sept was a round building, with a high domed roof and seven niches carved out of the walls on all sides, each bearing a carved stone image of one of the Seven. In daylight, windows of crystal and stained glass lent it a shining, colourful aspect, but in night it was darkened. Isildur smiled and was glad that Robert was not as pious or as prone to praying all night as Baelor the First had been and that the septon of the Red Keep was not as devout as perhaps he could be.

Isildur stopped at the door and looked back at the courtyard, scanning it for any sign of followers or unwanted eyes. A few guards were patrolling the battlements but all were looking out to the sea or the city, none towards the sept. He turned back and opened the door.

The interior of the sept was a round chamber of moderate size, sparsely lit by candles that burned softly from seven altars, each set before its own image of the Seven. The candlelight and the homely size of the royal sept lent it a sense of intimacy that grander structures like the Great Sept of Baelor did not possess. Despite this, Isildur could not help but feel a sense of unease at entering the temple of these false gods. He still remembered the temple that Sauron the Deceiver had erected upon Numenor in those last dark days, built for the worship of the Great Enemy. It had been a dark place of fear and pain and death, filled with screams. Even stepping into a sept of the Faith of the Seven still made the hairs on the back of Isildur's neck bristle. Worship for Isildur was done out in the open air, worship was the Three Prayers of Thanksgiving and the quiet contemplation of the beauty of nature, of mountains and waterfalls and the sea and the stars.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the half-light inside the sept. In the center of the room was a raised wooden altar, upon which was set a seven-sided crystal which, in daylight, would cast a rainbow of light when raised to the sun. Near to the altar stood Aratan and Eddard. Aratan was cloaked as Isildur was, but Isildur winced slightly when he noticed that Ned wore nothing to obscure his identity, and he saw the grey direwolf of House Stark plain upon the breast of his doublet.

"Were you followed?" said Isildur softly, quietly closing the door to the sept and then pulling his cloak back off his head.

"No of course not, now what is the meaning of all this?" said Ned, too loudly. _I can't blame him for having no patience for this sort of thing. All this creeping in the dark is distasteful business for a man of honour_ thought Isildur.

"Shh, keep your voice down. We do not know who may be listening" said Isildur, crossing the sept to stand near to the altar with them, close enough to whisper.

"What have you found out father? What threat did you speak of?" whispered Aratan.

"I have reason to suspect that the Lannisters may be plotting against the Crown" answered Isildur.

"What? Lord Tywin is the grandfather of Prince Joffrey, his own daughter is the Queen, why would they plot against the Crown?" said Ned.

"Truth now my friend: Do you really trust Cersei Lannister or her kin?" Isildur asked.

"No" Ned admitted "She has always hated Robert I think. But why plot against him now?"

"Joffrey is not yet of age, he would need a regent, they could place a Lannister puppet on the Iron Throne. I think that Jon might have somehow found this out and that is why he died so suddenly. They may have slain him" Isildur explained.

"I confess I found Jon's sudden sickness strange as well and worrisome" said Eddard.

"How did you come to suspect this father?" Aratan asked.

"Lord Varys came forth to me with his suspicions"

"Varys? The eunuch?" said Ned with a touch of disgust in his voice.

"Indeed, I do not waste my trust on one such as him either. However he is the Master of Whisperers for a reason, and if he sees reason to suspect a plot, then it would be wise that we should find the truth of it ourselves" replied Isildur.

"But what can we do? I know not even how to begin" said Aratan.

"Aye, I have no mind for such intrigues. We speak to Robert with this" said Eddard.

"There is little that I do these days is not noticed, by dint of my station and office, but I shall try to look into Jon Arryn's death and find what truth I can in all of this. We will need proof before we speak to the King" Isildur whispered.

"But what can we do until then? Father, you cannot expect me to stand by whilst you bear this burden alone" said Aratan with a hint of frustration.

"No, no I will have need of you both. Varys said that I scotched the snake but did not kill it by having the tournament postponed. It may be that our enemies conspire to do something during the tourney, there is always much food and drink in such a celebration, and tournaments are always full of accidents"

"My intention had been to test my lance in the tournament…" said Aratan.

"That is good, do so. I shall never turn away the aid of someone I can trust in this horrible city" Isildur said, smiling and clapping his son on the shoulder.

"If we fall into a struggle with Lannisters, both of our armies are north of the neck Isildur, we are isolated with only a handful of men and even with your ships it would take our allies months to come south in force. Lord Tywin has never been defeated in the field, he is a great commander, his armies are many and his arm is long. The King's Host may mean the difference between victory and defeat for us here" said Ned. The voice of Ned Stark, friend and comrade of Isildur and Robert, was gone, replaced by the calm, steely voice of Eddard the Quiet Wolf, the cool, methodical, relentless commander who had not yet met an army he could not put to flight.

"Yes, that is true Ned. We will have to ensure their loyalty" Isildur replied.

"Leave that to me" the Lord of Winterfell said with a grim half-smile. "I have no taste for these palace plots, but soldiers I understand. Many of the men and their officers are from the Westerlands, but I will ensure that their loyalty, their duty, is to Robert and to the Realm, no matter what it takes"

"If there is any man who can do so, it is you my friend" said Isildur. "But until we have found out more, we must be quiet, we must be cautious, we must be observant. The peace of all Eight Kingdoms could fall upon our shoulders to uphold. Our vigilance must not falter!"


	7. Chapter VII

**Chapter VII  
King's Landing**

The grass was long, the leaves were green, the sun was golden and never had the world seemed fairer or more full of life and wonder to Sansa Stark. It was the first day of Lord Isildur's tournament, and her heart was racing in her chest from excitement. She had been waiting, most patiently, for the Hand's tourney since she first heard of it when they had arrived in King's Landing. Sansa had been overjoyed. A tourney! A real tourney! With splendid knights and beautiful horses, just like out of the songs. She had been almost heartbroken when Lord Isildur had announced its postponing for a whole two weeks. Now it was here, and after nearly begging her father, she had been allowed to attend. Sansa had watching with growing excitement from the castle as hundreds of coloured pavilions had been thrown up at the tourney grounds outside the city walls. Now at last the day had come, and she was riding amongst that wondrous camp in a carriage with Septa Mordane and her best friend Jeyne Poole, breathless with amazement. She had felt a little bad with chaining Lady up back in the castle kennels, but she couldn't stay feeling down. Everything was simply too splendid for her words.

All the knights' pavilions were striped with vivid colours, reds, whites, blues, greens, golds, yellows, and each hung a shield bearing their arms outside the tent flaps. Everywhere she looked there was a pageant of heraldry, green apples and red apples, striding huntsmen, rearing unicorns, snarling leopards, three white feathers on black, three golden lilies on blue, a golden wyvern on red, eagles, griffons, stags and elk, heraldic birds and beasts of every description. Everywhere the knights and their loyal squires prepared for the day's contest, saddling snorting warhorses and polishing plate harness to a high gleam. It seemed in Sansa's eye that all the chivalry of Westeros had been assembled in this one place for this one magical showing of valour, skill and gallantry, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she would be part of it all, part of the whole wonderful event. She was dressed for the part, of course, in a gorgeous long green dress that accented the auburn in her hair.

They came to a tall viewing stand, newly erected by the lists. As her father was the Lord Marshal, Sansa had the honour of sitting on the high dais along with the King and the Queen and the whole court. She felt like she could barely contain herself, but Sansa was very proud of the grace with which she descended from the carriage and the composure with which she carried herself as she ascended the wooden stair to their seats. Septa Mordane gave a slight, approving nod.

Sansa was taken with the beauty of all the members of the court that day. Even old King Robert looked fine and dashing, in golden doublet adorned with leaping black stags, his high golden crown upon his head, his black beard and hair brushed and shining. The effect was somewhat lessened by the wine that ran down his chin after he took a long swig from his cup, and by the immense paunch of his belly, but still he looked almost kingly. The Queen was dressed to match, all in a golden dress to match her hair, but her gown was adorned with red lions instead, two of them facing each other, embroidered into the very fabric.

But to the left of the King sat Isildur and Sansa had never seen him like this before. On this day she saw revealed something which she had only glimpsed on all Lord Isildur's visits to Winterfell. He was dressed simply but richly, in tunic of white and surcoat of black and a cloak of black fastened by a silver broach shaped like an eagle with wings outstretched. Upon his chest were the white tree of Gondor, and the seven stars of the Dunedain, and the white crescent moon that was his own sigil. The heraldry glinted and glimmered, set in his surcoats with silver and precious gems. A slim circlet of _mithril_ adorned his head over his short, dark hair, and a single white stone was set in it. He was dressed much simpler than all the courtly nobles who surrounded him, yet none seemed as lordly or as noble as Isildur. Ancient and yet ageless he seemed, as stern as a high lord, as wise as a maester and as kingly as a king out of the Age of Heroes. His grey eyes reflected untold years as he watched the heralds march out upon the lists.

"It's better than the songs" Sansa breathed. There was a blast of horns and the spectacle began.

Sansa and Jeyne watched as the knights rode out in procession, the heralds calling out names both famous and unknown.

First rode the Kingsguard, the Six Brotherhoods. The Kingsguard themselves, the First Brotherhood, rode out first, led by the Lord-Commander Ser Barristan the Bold. They were seven of the noblest knights Sansa had ever seen, all but one in plate armour of the purest white and bearing white cloaks and riding white chargers. The sole flash of colour amongst them was Ser Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, resplendent in gold from head to toe, his helm shaped like a roaring lion's head. The other brotherhoods, each of seven more fighting men, came after, their white armour bearing blazons of colour to mark out their brotherhood. There was the Heirguard, who safeguarded the lives of the royal family, in harness of white and yellow, and the Redguard, guardians of the Red Keep, in white and red. Behind them, in armour of black chased with thin white trim, came the Ironguard, led by their Brother-Captain Ser Ilyn Payne, protectors of the Iron Throne. Last of all, marching in on foot rather than riding on horses, came the Dragonguard and the Squireguard, fourteen strapping young squires whom served the other knights of the Kingsguard. Sansa knew from her lessons that once the Dragonguard had been tasked with the care of the Dragonpit while the Targaryen dragons still lived but now, with the dragons all dead, they cared for the horses and gear of the knights

"But where is the Bannerguard?" Jeyne asked.

"They say they all died on the Trident, protecting Rhaegar" answered Sansa. She had always remembered that part of the story; it seemed so grand and courageous of those knights to die so bravely on the field rather than accept surrender. Her father had once told her that half the Bannerguard had fled when they saw Rhaegar struck down, but she didn't believe him. True knights would never flee in such a way.

The great procession of knights and freeriders continued. So many of the names were so famous, it was like Sansa had stepped into a song. There came Bronze Yohn Royce and his sons, all in armour of bronze covered in ancient runes. There came the tall Lord Jason Mallister, an eagle's outstretched wings rising from his helmet, his arms all indigo and silver, and his son with him. Hither came thundering Ser Gregor Clegane, whom some called The Mountain that Rides and others named The Troll That Walks In Daylight, and he rode upon a massive snorting black stallion, his heraldry bearing the Clegane sigil of three dogs on a yellow field. When the young Lord Beric Dondarrion's name was announced, his hair all reddish gold and his black shield crossed by a bolt of lightning, Jeyne Poole declared that she was ready to marry him right then and there.

Sandor Clegane, the Hound, entered the lists as well, in grey plate without adornment and wearing his dog's head helm. And there was Renly Baratheon, the King's handsome younger brother, in plate harness enameled a deep green, his tall helm bearing a vast rack of golden antlers. And there were many other names Sansa did not recognize, unsung freeriders and younger sons of noble families and unproven knights from the Westerlands, the Riverlands, the Reach, the Vale of Arryn and the rest of the Eight Kingdoms, and Sansa and Jeyne gossiped back and forth about which they thought handsome and which they hoped would prove their valour soon. However then there came a name that Sansa did not expect.

"Aratan Isildurion, son of Isildur Elendilion, of the House of Elendil!"

Aratan trotted into the lists upon a dappled grey charger, as fine a horseman as only a Numenorean could be. His arms were unlike any of the other knights upon the field that Sansa could see. Most of the knights wore plate harness, and their shields were small, decoration to bear their sigils in the joust. Aratan instead wore a long hauberk of mail, down to his knees, forged all of black steel, and on his chest some kind of cuirass that Sansa had not seen before. Over it all he wore a long black surcoat, bearing the sigils of Gondor and his father on his chest. He carried a broad kite shield, long enough to cover his body from chin down to the flank of his horse. Aratan carried his full helm, adorned with the wing of seabirds, under his arm. His bare face was as a younger image of his father, dark-haired, stern of glance and noble in bearing, his head high and fair, less ageless perhaps than his father, but also less remote, closer in a way. As he rode past, Aratan caught Sansa's eye. He raised a gauntleted hand in salute; Sansa was sure it was to her and felt a slight heat warm her cheeks.

Again the horns were blown and the day's jousting began. Two southron knights whose colours Sansa did not know same galloping together in a rumble of hooves and a crunch of clashing steel as blunted lance met shield or armour. All morning and into the afternoon the jousts continued. Jeyne squealed and covered her eyes whenever a knight took a fall from his saddle, but Sansa knew her composure was perfect from Septa Mordane's small smile of approval. A high lady knows how to properly hold herself at a tournament. The commoners shouted and roared and gasped with amazement as their favourites met in terrific contests. They screamed when Renly Baratheon, beloved by the crowds, fell to the ground with a fearful snap. He rose after a moment though, having broken off one of the tines on his golden antlers. With a laugh, he held it aloft and then threw it into the grateful crowd. Some brave souls booed and hissed when the Kingslayer took the lists, but they cheered all the same when he inevitably unhorsed his opponent. One unlucky young knight from the Vale of Arryn was paired off with the Mountain for his first tilt. Sansa gasped with horror when Ser Gregor's lance hit the unfortunate knight with such violence that it drove up underneath his gorget and stabbed him through the throat, lifting him up from the saddle and tossing him bodily backwards upon the ground. The dying knight lay very still upon the ground, blood gurgling in his throat as he choked out a last breath. Jeyne paled and began to breathe quickly and hysterically, and she quickly excused herself, rushing away from the lists with Septa Mordane following after her to help her regain her composure, but Sansa stayed. She could not tear her eyes away from the dying man. She felt bad that the poor boy's name would never win renown now.

On and on the day's festivities continued. Sansa cheered for Jory, who represented Winterfell in the lists and acquitted himself well, unhorsing three opponents before losing to a fourth. The Hound seemed as unstoppable as his brother, and though his armour was grey and drab and his form was unsophisticated, Sansa had to admit he was a bold and courageous rider in the lists. Sansa's favourite however quickly came to be Ser Loras Tyrell, Knight of the Flowers. He was young and slim and heartbreakingly beautiful, and Sansa felt her heart race whenever he rode past and favoured her with a smile with his pouty lips and piercing eyes. He rode with the finest style and always overthrew his opponent, often without taking a single hit himself. He was the very image of the knight Sansa had always dreamed of, handsome brave and strong.

"The next tilt is soon to commence!" the herald roared out in a loud, clear voice. He held in his hand a long scroll. "Ser Jaime Lannister, the Lion of Lannister, shall ride against… Aratan Isildurion!"

Sansa sat forward a little in her seat. It was the first hour of the afternoon and she had yet to see Aratan ride. It was his first tilt of the day.

The Kingslayer, shining in his gilt armour, sat at one end of the lists on a warhorse caparisoned in scarlet and gold. His visor was back and he was staring down at his foeman. Usually Lannister would be tossing kisses to ladies in the audience, smirking and showboating, but now he looked at Aratan with deathly intensity. As a cat eyeing its prey before the pounce, so he appeared to Sansa. At the other end of the lists Aratan sat with his high winged helm already upon his head. Sansa watched a squire with a heavily scarred face place a lance in Aratan's fist. With lance in one hand and his broad shield on his other arm; Sansa realized with a jolt that Aratan was controlling his horse with his legs alone. She saw the mouth of the scarred squire moving, mumbling advice to Aratan.

The heralds set their horns to their lips. Jaime lowered his visor gently and picked up his lance. Both men stood silent, their horses pawing the ground eagerly.

There was a blast of horns.

Then there was the thunder of hooves.

Great was the clash of their meeting. So loud and so sudden was the crash of their arms, of lance hitting shield and armour, that the commons were shocked to silence and Sansa jumped a little in her seat. Their lances had both struck home, but both men had stayed in the saddle, and a ragged cheer went up as they went galloping past each other with shattered lances in hand. Squires scrambled to place fresh lances in the knight's outstretched hands, and then quickly they went hurtling back together again.

Lannister shifted himself to the right in his saddle at the last second, and Aratan's lance point glanced off the side of Jaime's shield, whilst the Kingslayer's lance hit solidly upon Aratan's. Still though, the son of Isildur kept his seat and rode past again. This was a different kind of joust than Sansa had seen before. Here there was no pageantry, this contest was deadly earnest. These two men-at-arms were seeking not to amaze the King, the court or the crowd, nor were they seeking glory or renown, these men sought only to defeat each other utterly.

Three more times they came rushing together with terrible violence and a tremendous noise of galloping hooves and the smash of lance on shield. Three more times they went galloping past, both still in the saddle. Three more times the crowd cheered, its excitement growing to a fever pitch by the courage and skill of the combatants.

On the fourth tilt however, there was a great crack of rending wood. Aratan drove his lance forward with such force that it cleaved straight through the Kingslayer's shield, splitting the lion blazon asunder. The lance bore Jaime Lannister back and he went flying out of his saddle, falling onto the ground heavily. Before Sansa knew what she was doing, she was on her feet clapping. The roar of the crowds was deafening. The King let out a great bellowing cheer of approval, laughing boisterously whilst Jaime slowly struggled to his feet.

Aratan trotted over to the fallen Kingslayer. He cast down his broken lance. Out swept his sword, bright steel shining in the sun. He pulled his warhorse up a short distance from Ser Jaime.

"Ser Jaime Lannister! Do you yield?" Aratan shouted. The commons had fallen quiet again.

Ser Jaime Lannister drew his sword. The golden blade caught the light as it was unsheathed, blazing like a fiery brand.

Aratan slid down from his saddle smoothly, kite shield on one arm, sword in hand. The two men squared off, but Aratan drove his sword into the dirt and left it standing, raising a hand as if to say "Wait." Then he took the strap of his kite shield off his shoulder and tossed his shield aside. Aratan took his sword in both hands and held it above his head in a stance that Sansa had never seen before.

There was a moment of stillness between the two foes, like swimmers taking a deep breath before the plunge. Even through their armour, Sansa could see, almost sense, the tension and power of coiled muscle. There was a lunge so fast that she could have missed it if she blinked

Blades flashed as they turned in the air. Blades cut and thrust and slashed with speed like Sansa had never seen. Each man's sword seemed to be in six places at once as they exchanged blows and counter-blows with furious intensity. Swords slipped and slid off each other from binds that lasted mere moments. Then, as if moved by one mind, they separated again, backing off and beginning to circle. Again they lunged together and their swords met with a mighty clash, Jaime parrying Aratan's blow. They rained blows on each other as a smith hammers on steel. It was as if they were tireless, inhuman. Jaime attacked with a thrust; Aratan turned it aside and rang a heavy strike off Lannister's lion helm, and the Kingslayer replied with a counter-stroke of his own that crunched onto Aratan's shoulder. They used the whole of their swords as weapons, not merely the blades. Jaime swung his sword like a hammer, blade in gauntleted hands, wielding the pommel like a mace. Aratan stepped back and replied with his own hammer blow, catching Ser Jaime by the ankle with his crossguard and tripping him to the ground. Quickly Jaime scrambled back to his feet as Aratan pounced and once again they were exchanging blows with dizzying intensity.

It was not the graceful dance with swords in hand that the bards sung of and Sansa had always imagined. There was a grace to it perhaps, but it was too savage, too rough, there was too much unbridled ferocity in it. They used their whole bodies as weapons just as much as their swords, grabbing and grappling, as they came to grips with each other in close quarters. Back and forth they went along the lists. Aratan would push the Kingslayer back with a flurry of hard strikes, surcoat billowing round his mailed legs. Ser Jaime was faster on his feet, but Aratan had the longer arm, greater reach and Sansa could see the power behind each of his swings. Ser Jaime could do little more than dodge or deflect the razor-blade that swung in Aratan's hands. Then something would change, their footwork would shift, and Jaime would be on the attack, harrying Aratan back with a flurry of his own. Lannister's sword was faster, he seemed to strike two blows for every one of Aratan's, yet the tall Dúnadan deflected and parried with the practiced ease of a master. Neither man could gain the advantage, too great was their courage, and too skilled was their swordsmanship.

"ENOUGH" roared the King, in a voice that echoed across the tourney grounds. The combatants stopped immediately at the voice of King Robert, both dropping to bended knee. Robert was on his feet, the commons had fallen into dead quiet.

"Right, that's enough from the both of you. You've both shown your courage, proved how hard you are; now let that be the end of it. This match shall be a draw. If you still feel the need to test your mettle, save it for the melee" said the King. Applause began to rise for the two knights on the field. Ser Jaime raised his visor once again, and Aratan pulled off his helm and pushed back his mail coif. His hair was matted to his head by sweat. He turned to Lannister and extended a hand. Jaime took it, but Sansa could see him mouthing words that she could not hear beneath the roars of the crowds. Then they released each other and stalked away towards opposite ends of the lists.

"Enjoying the joust my lady?" said a voice. Sansa looked up. Standing over her was a slim man. His hair was dark with threads of grey at the temples, and his beard was short and pointed. He was dressed finely, with a silver mockingbird securing his clothes at his throat. He was smiling, yet his grey-green eyes did not.

"I am sorry ser, I do not believe we have been introduced"

"Sansa, this is Lord Petyr Baelish, the King's Master of Coin" said Septa Mordane.

"Yes, an _old _friend of the family" said Lord Baelish. He sat down next to Sansa, too close. He was looking at her.

"You are the eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Stark? You know, I knew your mother before she was Lady Stark, when we were both young. You have her hair" he said. Something about him made Sansa's skin crawl.

She was saved from having to reply to that by the trumpets of the heralds. More names were called out. She sucked in her breath and stiffened slightly as Ser Gregor Clegane galloped past, heading to the far end of the lists.

"Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain That Rides" said Lord Baelish. He turned his head to her. "Or The Troll That Walks in the Day, as some others know him"

"I am sure he is a very brave knight" Sansa said. She could think of nothing else to say about Ser Gregor. He seemed like the evil black knight that the minstrels always sung of, to be defeated by some gallant young hero. How she wished that Ser Loras would ride against the Troll.

"You are frightened by him?" Baelish asked. Sansa could only nod slightly.

"You are wise my lady. Have you ever heard the story of the Mountain and the Hound?" he asked again. This time she shook her head.

The crowds cheered as Ser Gregor's lance caught his opponent in the chest and sent him toppling from his saddle to the ground. Unlike the poor knight of the Vale, this one survived the encounter.

"Lovely little story of brotherly love" Baelish said, barely a whisper.

"But not one that you need to trouble yourself with my lady" boomed a voice above them. Sansa looked up. Isildur towered above them, looking down. He did not look amused. Baelish's lips twisted into a smirk.

"My Lord Hand, how are you enjoying your fine tournament? I assure you that I was truly frugal in its funding" Baelish asked. Isildur did not heed him.

"Save your gossip for ears that wish to hear it Baelish. There is only one thing you need to know about the Troll and the Hound, young Sansa: They are both of them damned, both of them are wicked men. And wicked men shall never go unpunished" he looked at Lord Baelish pointedly. Isildur turned and strode away, followed by a pair of armed men in the livery of Gondor.

The jousts continued for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. Aratan was undefeated for the rest of the afternoon after his match with the Kingslayer, unhorsing many southron knights and lords. Ser Jaime Lannister reentered the lists with a renewed fury and practically trampled several of his opponents before being brought to another draw with Ser Barristan Selmy, who had ridden his first tilts of the day against men decades younger than him. Ser Balon Swann rode brilliantly but was eventually overthrown by the Hound. Out of all the dozens of knights who had come to tournament that day, a select few were chosen by the heralds for the final jousts that would come the next day, amongst them both of the Clegane brothers, Aratan and, to Sansa's delight, Ser Loras. She hoped so desperately that the Knight of the Flowers would win the tournament. After the final day of jousting, there would be a day of archery which she had no interest in, and then as the grand finale of the whole tourney: A day-long melee between all the knights, and that too she wished to attend.

The moon was beginning to rise in the inky night sky when the commoners began their walk home, chattering excitedly about the day's jousting. The court moved to the riverbank, where servants from the castles had erected a high dais and many long trestle-tables, a feasting hall beneath the stars. Sansa's heart was all aflutter. She and Septa Mordane were seated at the high table, Jeyne Poole sitting at one of the lower tables not far from them. Sansa got to sit to the right of Prince Joffrey. He looked so beautiful that night in her eyes, in his deep blue doublet. The air was full of the smell of cooking, for the servants of the castle had been preparing the feast all day whilst the joust had gone on. Sansa looked all around, her eyes wide, drinking in all the sights. All the knights looked so dashing in their doublets, the ladies all so lovely in long, ornate, flowing dresses. She watched as the High Septon, a large, rotund man, stood, moonlight twinkling in his crystal crown. He spread his arms wide and the murmurs and conversations of the gathered nobles fell silent.

"My lords, my ladies, let us pray" the High Septon said in a smooth, melodious voice. Sansa bowed her head with everyone else, but the moment before she lowered her eyes she noticed that Isildur made no move.

"O Gods on high, hear thy people pray. O Seven Gods, bless this, Thy bounty that Ye have given to us this day. Bless us, O Gods, and our good King, Robert, the first of His name, who reigns by Your grace. By the grce of the Father, may our King reign for all his days with justice and prosperity. By the grace of the Warrior, grant his heirs and successors strength and courage to reign after him from this time till the end of time. By the grace of the Seven, so let it be. "

"With the grace of the Gods, we give thanks" the crowd intoned, hundreds of voices speaking as one. When Sansa looked back up, she noticed that Lord Isildur was making a face like someone had just done something distasteful in his presence. She idly wondered what it was; she thought the High Septon's grace was lovely.

It was a night for magic, with the stars twinkling overhead and the air not quite cool enough to make her shiver. It was a night that Sansa would never forget. Never before had life seemed so close to all her dreams and all her desires and wishes.

An army of cooks had been working the entire day in open-air kitchens set up on the tourney grounds to prepare the feast. Sansa had never seen such a dazzling variety of foods, nor such expense and spectacle involved in their preparation and presentation. Not even her father's feasts at Winterfell could compare to this.

The courses came and went, born by the servants in succession before the high table prior to serving, and each seeming more delicious than the last. First came a hearty barley soup, rich with meat, and after that a salad of sweetgrass garnished with crushed nuts. There were fresh, warm, round loaves of white bread and wheels of sharp cheese. There were fruits, fresh picked and candied alike, and meat enough to sate any man's hunger. There were beefsteaks rich with spices and racks of ribs crusted with herbs. There were chickens, pheasants, partridges, all roasted over open fires and succulently glazed. There was venison, fresh from the Kingswood, and trout caught fresh in the river and baked in clay. There was eels, goose, duck and snails and so many foods Sansa had never tried before. Joffrey was the very image of courtesy and chivalry that night, and Sansa blushed profusely and thanked him demurely as he carved off a queen's portion of meat from every passing dish and course for her.

At her seat at the high table, Sansa even got to see the most unusual and spectacular creations of the cooks. It seemed as if the head chefs were all trying to outdo each other in the King's eyes. One presented King Robert with a whole roasted sow that had been ingeniously decorated so that it looked as if it were still alive, garnished with small loaves of bread that had been baked in the shape of piglets. Another had sewn together the front half of a pheasant with the rear half of a pig, cooked it all together and called it a "cockatrice" as he laid it before the King to carve. One chef brought forth a large pastry baked into the shape of a stag, not life-size but remarkably life-like , and when King Robert cut into it with his knife it even bled red wine and was stuffed with "entrails" of sausages, to the King's delight and amusement. A pie was brought forth, from which sprang a whole flock of doves. Finally three serving men, straining to carry a huge platter before them, presented the King with the centerpiece of the feast: A goose, plucked and roasted, sitting on top of whole wild boar. The goose was decorated with its own surcoat in Baratheon colours, the boar had been caparisoned like a warhorse, and the goose was wearing a helmet and carrying a lance, both made of pastry. The chef that had produced this spectacle bowed to the feasters, as rounds of applause filled the air. Sansa clapped along with them, never before had she seen such invention and theatrics go into the serving of food.

Not that the feast had been lacking in theatrics before. Players with harp and flute, tabor and pipe, filled the evening air with music. Acrobats flipped and tumbled to and fro, and fire-breathers spat out great gouts of flame to the amazement of their audience. The court fool, Moon Boy, danced about ridiculously on stilts, singing insulting songs and making japes at the expense of anyone who happened to be near him. King Robert laughed boisterously when Moon Boy mocked Lord Isildur, and even Septa Mordane laughed so hard she spilled her wine when Moon Boy sang his song about the High Septon. The feasting and merry-making continued long into the night.

"Will my lady be attending the joust tomorrow as well?" Prince Joffrey asked. Sansa blushed slightly.

"I do so hope I shall, it was all so wonderful today" Sansa replied.

"Whom do you think will win it tomorrow?" said Joffrey.

_Ser Loras_ she thought, but kept her tongue.

"I do not know my prince, they all seemed so skilled today" she said.

"My dog and my Uncle Jaime shall do for them tomorrow I think" said Joffrey. "And one day, when I am old enough, I shall enter the lists and do for them all"

"I know you will ride most valorously my prince" said Sansa smiling.

"Of course I will, I'm a prince" replied Joffrey.

Sansa imagined Joffrey riding in his first tournament. He would look splendid in white, shining armour, or perhaps in gold like his uncle Jaime Lannister, with Baratheon stags antlers upon his helm. She pictured herself there too, wishing him luck with a kiss on the cheek before his tilt. She wondered if he would let her tie her favour onto his arm before the joust. How she would like that. She imagined Ser Loras and Prince Joffrey riding against each other, how brave, how chivalrous, how splendid that would be. She imagined her Joffrey defeating that foul troll Ser Gregor, being declared champion by his father the King.

"I will cheer for you when that day comes my prince" said Sansa. Joffrey smiled at her and she felt as if her heart was melting.

"And I shall defeat them all for you, you are my lady" Joffrey said. She blushed again.

_It's all perfect. This day, this night, it's perfect. Oh why couldn't our day by the river have been like this? Why does Arya have to ruin everything?_ Sansa thought. She had wanted to spend another day like that with him again, but he had been so cold to her for the rest of the ride to the city. Arya had said such awful things about the Prince, but in her heart Sansa knew that he was just brooding because of his injury. Now he was being the perfect image of a chivalrous prince, he was looking at her and her heart was all aflutter.

_Oh please spend another day with me, please ask me, I would so love too _Sansa thought, wishing it would happen, willing it to happen. She wished she could ask herself but knew it was not the lady-like thing to do.

Joffrey opened his mouth to say something, Sansa's heart skipped a beat.

"SEVEN HELLS TAKE BOTH OF YOU! I'M A KING, I WANT TO FIGHT" roared the booming voice of the King suddenly. Sansa felt like she almost jumped out of her seat, and she looked down from the high table to see that King Robert was standing in the centre aisle between the lower tables, a goblet loosely in hand. His face was ruddy from too much drink and his hair and beard had become disheveled. Sansa hadn't noticed him leaving the high table. She had never seen the King's eyes in such a rage, it frightened her. She glanced to the side and saw that Lord Isildur was on his feet.

"Your Grace, what if something happens? The melee is no place for a king!" Isildur said sternly. The feast had fallen silent.

"Isildur, you're the King's Hand, not the King's bloody nursemaid! I'll do as I like" Robert spat back, slurring his words.

"My love" said the Queen "Lord Isildur and I only want what is best for you, a man of your age really-"

"A man of my age? A man of my age!?" the King bellowed wrathfully "I'll show you what a man of my age can do!", and he thumped his chest with a closed fist.

He turned to the crowd, all of them shocked into silence. His face was livid, his expression wild.

"If any of you think you can unhorse me, meet me in the melee. I'll be waiting" Robert said through clenched teeth.

"Robert, my love, I will not-" Queen Cersei began.

"You hold your tongue woman!" Robert spat spitefully at her.

"My King" said Isildur.

"Shut your bloody mouth" Robert snarled. The two men stared at each other hard, fuming with anger. Then, almost in unison, they both turned away and stormed off.

A cold wind chilled Sansa's skin, raising goosebumps. She looked around. People were quiet in the aftermath of the King's outburst, drunkards were already asleep on tables, and dull-faced servants began to clear away what remained of the food and drink.

The spell was broken, the magic was gone, and the feast was over.

"It's late my lady, do you need an escort back to the castle?" Joffrey said. Despite all that had just happened, Sansa's heart thrilled at the prospect of her Prince gallantly walking her back to the castle. She glanced to her side to see that Septa Mordane was asleep in her chair, snoring loudly.

"Yes my Prince" she said demurely.

"Right. Dog! Take my lady back to the castle" Joffrey called over his shoulders. Sandor Clegane loomed in the shadows behind the high table, Sansa had not seen him there. She looked at him and tried not to stare at the burnt wreck that made up an entire half of his face. Something about him scared her.

"Aye my Prince" Clegane said, his voice slurred.

Before Sansa could say a thing, Joffrey had stood up and left her alone with the Hound. A shot of fear traveled down her spine, and she felt as if all the hairs on her body were standing on end as he stood over her, his breath stinking of too much wine.

"What? Did you expect Joff to take you back himself?" said the Hound.

"Um" Sansa stammered.

"Learn this now so you don't need to learn it later: Joff only cares about Joff in the end, don't expect anything from him and you will never be disappointed" Clegane slurred, staring in the direction of Joffrey's departure.

"You're his sworn sword…" Sansa said, unsure of what he was trying to tell her.

"You think that means a damn thing?" Clegane snapped.

"Clegane!" called another voice. Sansa looked for her rescuer and saw Aratan approaching the high table. He was dressed much as his father was, still looking like a younger image of Isildur himself.

"What do you want Dunadan?" Sandor said coldly.

"I am going to the castle now, I can escort Lady Sansa" replied Aratan. Sansa felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"Hmph, as you wish" said Clegane, stalking off after Prince Joffrey. Sansa looked around, everything seemed so quiet now. Most of the knights and ladies had already left in the aftermath of the King's outburst. A cool breeze rustled the leaves in the trees.

"Shall we be off my lady?" Aratan said warmly, extending a hand and smiling towards her. Sansa smiled back, standing up from her chair and gathering up her skirts as she descended from the high table to take his arm.

"Thank you Aratan" Sansa said politely.

They walked in silence underneath the silent boughs of the trees along the riverbank. The stars twinkled above and a cool breeze chilled her skin. Sansa studied Aratan out of the corner of her eyes as they walked. She wished her Prince or Ser Loras could have walked with her instead, but Aratan was better than the Hound by far. He did not have the aching beauty of Ser Loras, but he was far taller, much wider in the shoulders and more strongly build. There was something solid and reassuring about him that Sansa liked, she could sense the strength in his arms and his broad, deep chest. And, she admitted to herself, he was not unpleasant to look upon either, with his short dark hair, piercing grey eyes and strong jaw.

Darkened shapes loomed before them. Sansa had been so lost in thought that she had not noticed that they were suddenly amidst the camp. Aratan led her down a path she had not trod before. Before long a pavilion appeared before them, its striped colours indistinguishable in the darkness. A man, a Dunedan by his height, was cinching the straps on a saddle to a bay palfrey that stood quietly as he worked.

"It was a good feast Ohtar, you should have come" Aratan said jovially.

"I'm not one for feasts lad, too much to do for you tourney knights" the man said, finishing his task on the saddle and turning towards them, smiling. It was the squire Sansa had seen earlier. She tried not to stare, but his face was a morbidly fascinating array of scars. Scars crisscrossed his cheeks, his chin and jaw line, even across his eyes. He had a prodigious knuckle of a nose as well, which looked as if it had been broken many times.

"Apologies for my face my lady" Ohtar said with a good natured chuckle. He scratched at one of his scars "I've been in a few scrapes in my time, and my stunning good looks have not come out unscathed"

"You never had stunning good looks you old fool" Aratan teased.

"Old fool? I could still whip you, I taught you everything you know and don't you forget that" Ohtar shot back.

"Maybe we'll have to meet in the sparring ring to settle this. Another night though, I am escorting the Lady Sansa back to the castle" said Aratan, taking the reins from Ohtar's hand.

"Figured you would head to the castle for the night, didn't figure you would take a lady. My apologies my lady, I'm afraid we don't have a side saddle" Ohtar said. Aratan turned towards Sansa and, setting his strong hands upon her waist, suddenly lifted her up into the saddle as easily as if she had been a child. She felt a slight heat upon her cheeks.

"This will suffice I'm sure ser, you have my thanks" she said with her best courtesy. Ohtar laughed.

"Ser Ohtar? That's a new one. I'm afraid not my little lady, just a squire. Played shieldbearer for Lord Isildur in the old days, now I play shieldbearer for his little whelps like this one here" Ohtar said with a grin. Aratan gave him a good natured punch in the shoulder in reply.

"We'll settle that later Ohtar, I ought to get this little lady back to the castle now" Aratan said, gently tugging on the reins and leading the palfrey, with Sansa, away.

The horse had a very smooth, pleasant gait, and its shod hooves clattering on cobble stones were just about the only noise in the silent streets as they walked towards the Red Keep. King's Landing slept all around them, in utter darkness broken only by the isolated islands of light cast by torches and lanterns in windows and doorways. Yet despite the peaceful quiet all around them, Sansa couldn't stop thinking about the King's anger.

"Aratan, do you think-" She began, but stopped herself. A lady should not ask questions.

"Do I think what my lady?" Aratan asked, glancing over at her.

"Do… Do you think the King will actually ride in the melee?" she asked. His eyebrows briefly raised in surprise before he answered.

"He may, he is strong willed, and rarely does he accept any counsel but his own. He loves battle, that much is clear" he replied.

"But why? What honour or glory could he gain from it?" said Sansa. Aratan smiled, his face almost sad, at her.

"For some men it's not about the honour or the glory. Some men couldn't care less about those things. Some men only care about the fight itself"

Sansa tried to think of a man who would fight only for a love of fighting. She could only imagine a horrid brute like the Troll or the Hound, not a true knight. Although the King was fat and drunken, she could not imagine her own father befriending a man who loved violence purely for its own sake.

"And the King is one of those men? He couldn't be, my father…"

"Is a good, just and honourable man, but honourable men do not always befriend men like themselves. King Robert is not wicked my lady, do not think him so, but there is something inside him. It the same thing that is inside most men, but it speaks to him louder and clearer than most. Within every man there is a lust for violence, a burning desire for war, women and wealth. Some master that beast, others are mastered by it, and others still fall somewhere in between. For men like Robert who hear its whispers so clearly, fighting is not about honour or glory, it is about the rush of battle and the thrill of victory. That is why they fight" said Aratan.

Sansa thought about all the men who had ridden in the tournament today. She thought about Ser Loras, Jaime Lannister, the Troll and the Hound, and that young boy who had been died to Gregor Clegane's lance. Why had that boy come here and what did he die for? Was it truly for honour and renown like the songs said, or was it for something else? Greed for gold? Or did they fight purely for a love of violence?

_Ser Loras would fight for honour, I just know it_ she thought. Sansa regarded Aratan. She wondered what had brought him to this tournament

"Why do you fight, Aratan?" Sansa asked quietly. He looked at her, and his blue eyes were full of a distant sadness.


End file.
